U.S. senatorial hopeful Pete Hoekstra has been given a moniker that will look nifty in a campaign poster: “Taxpayer Super Hero.”
It’s not clear whether the honor comes with a cape and T-emblazoned suit, but the Republican is glad to be one of six U.S. congressmen to win the award from Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, a government watchdog group.
Last week, Hoekstra firmed up his superhero credentials by signing the Taxpayer Protection Pledge, in which he promises to never increase taxes and, when removing a tax loophole, to match it dollar-for-dollar with budget cuts.
Of course, every superhero has his Kryptonite. For Hoekstra – and like-minded Tea Party candidates – that Kryptonite is reality.
For instance, I’ve never heard a no-tax pledger explain how he or she will fund the next war that comes along. Wars (always) are incredibly expensive. For instance, we’ve been spending $2 billion a week on Iraq (which President Bush financed by increasing the debt ceiling, a solution the Tea Party opposes.)
You want to temporarily dismantle a huge chunk of federal government – like say, Social Security – to fund the next Iraq War? Good luck with that.
Without a way for the nation to increase revenues to address such emergencies, the nation will go down the tubes pretty quickly.
What would Superman do? He likely would not make a silly promise.
