Lessons From Europe

Video: 5 lessons from the European fiscal crisis « Hot Air: "As Americans watch the latest EU fiscal crisis unfold, what lessons can we learn from it? Dan Mitchell brings us a new video from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity with five key takeaways for US policymakers, as part of their Econ 101 video series.  The first two are the most applicable in the short term:"

1. Higher taxes lead to higher spending, not lower deficits. Miss Morandotti looks at the evidence from Europe and shows that politicians almost always claim that higher taxes will be used to reduce red ink, but the inevitable result is bigger government. This is a lesson that gullible Republicans need to learn – especially since some of them want to acquiesce to a tax hike as part of the “Supercommitee” negotiations.

2. A value-added tax would be a disaster. This was music to my ears sinceI have repeatedly warned that the statists won’t be able to impose a European-style welfare state in the United States without first imposing this European-style money machine for big government. ...

But wait! I thought it was Europe that we were supposed to emulate? They've got high taxes and are the example of socialism done right. After all, Westerners aren't stupid thugs like the Russians -- we won't make those same deadly mistakes here ... will we? Ummm... isn't it starting already?