Don't Mess With Taxes

A couple of days ago, I mentioned the Citizens for Tax Justice analysis of the tax positions of the various candidates for president. The tax thoughts of Fred Dalton Thompson, known by a large segment of the country as fictional New York District Attorney Arthur Branch on the original Law & Order program, were not among them.

The reason: Thompson is not yet an official candidate. But he will be. Count on it.

In the meantime, folks are trying to get a sense of where he stands on the issues, including taxes. Some folks, aka conservatives who thought they could count on Fred to toe the tax-cut line, are getting a bit anxious.

In fact, says James Pethokoukis, who writes the Capital Commerce blog for U.S. News, Thompson's tax views are downright alarming to some on the right side of the political aisle.

Apparently, in recent interviews, Thompson appeared to equate tax cuts with entitlements as problems that need to be dealt with. "In fact," writes Pethokoukis, "Thompson seemed to be advocating the sort of 'root canal' economics that budget hawks like the Concord Coalition are always proposing: higher taxes and lower spending."

Of course, the former U.S. Senator also has in the past praised the beneficence of tax cuts. And he and his spinmeisters will no doubt refine his tax stance before Thompson becomes the 147,873rd GOP presidential candidate.

Oh, the field isn't that large ... yet? It just seems like it!

Anyway, keep watching. It's still a year away from the election and it's only going to get more interesting ... we hope!