Posted on 02/10/2007 9:26:03 PM PST by FairOpinion
Republican primary voters should rally around the GOP field's most accomplished supply-sider, the all-but-announced Rudolph W. Giuliani. Having sliced taxes and slashed Gotham's government, New York's former mayor is the leading fiscal conservative among 2008's GOP presidential contenders.
Before Giuliani's January 1, 1994 inauguration, New York's economy was on a stretcher. Amid soaring unemployment, 235 jobs vanished daily. Financier Felix Rohatyn complained: "Virtually all human activities are taxed to the hilt." Punitive taxes helped fuel a $2.3 billion deficit.
Mayor-elect Giuliani sounded Reaganesque when he announced he would "reduce the size and cost of city government" to balance the budget. In his first State of the City address, he said: "We're going to cut taxes to attract jobs so our people can work."
Giuliani spent eight years keeping these promises.
"America's Mayor" cut or killed 23 levies, saving taxpayers $9.8 billion. Giuliani pared Gotham's top income-tax rate by 20.6%. Washington, D.C.'s CFO reported that between 1993 and 2001, local taxes on a family of four New Yorkers earning $50,000 fell 23.7%.
Giuliani cut the commercial-rent tax, curbed sales taxes, and curtailed the marriage penalty on taxpaying couples. Giuliani proudly shaved Gotham's hotel tax from 6% to 5 in 1994. Consequently, that tax's revenues soared from $135 million in Fiscal Year 1995 to $239 million in FY 2001.
Giuliani defends his supply-side instincts with bracing candor. Asked after September 11 if he would hike taxes, Giuliani called that "a dumb, stupid, idiotic, and moronic thing to do."
Giuliani's expenditure growth averaged 2.9% annually, while local inflation between January 1994 and December 2001 averaged 3.6%. His FY 1995 budget decreased outlays by 1.6%, while his post-9/11 FY 2002 plan lowered appropriations by 2.6%.
If President Bush had followed Giuliani's example and limited Washington's spending to 2.9% average, annual growth, the just-unveiled FY 2008 federal budget would cost $2.275 trillion, not $2.9 trillion, saving taxpayers $625 billion, the Cato Institute's Stephen Slivinski estimates. Such Giulianian fiscal discipline would generate a $386 billion surplus, not an anticipated $239 billion deficit.
Giuliani repeatedly privatized municipal assets. Giuliani sold WNYC radio for $20 million, WNYC-TV for $207 million, and Gotham’s share of the U.N. Plaza Hotel for $85 million. Divesting the New York Coliseum excised an eyesore from Columbus Circle and added $345 million to city coffers. Giuliani also let the private Central Park Conservancy manage Manhattan's fabled urban forest.
These eight years of tax reduction and fiscal responsibility helped hammer unemployment from 10.4 percent in 1993 to 5.7 percent in 2001. Simultaneously, personal income advanced 53 percent.
It's hard to compare a two-term ex-mayor, a one-term governor, and a four-term U.S. senator. Nevertheless, Cato's 2006 gubernatorial report card gives former Massachusetts chief executive Mitt Romney a "C." While the top personal tax rate fell 6 percent on his watch, thanks to a referendum voters approved before he arrived, Romney's first budget raised $140 million by closing corporate-tax loopholes. It also featured some $501.5 million in increased fees, including higher marriage licenses (from $4 to $50), pricier gun permits ($25 to $100), a $100 biannual fee for volunteer firefighters (rescinded under pressure), and a $10, previously free, ID card that lets the blind ride Boston public-transit gratis.
Few in Congress expose outrageous federal boondoggles as fervently as does John McCain. However, he is an ambivalent tax fighter. According to Club for Growth research, McCain opposed President Clinton's 1993 tax increases and supported his 1997 capital gains tax cuts. He also voted to extend President Bush's 2003 tax cuts. For 2005, McCain earned a 78% National Taxpayers Union rating -- an "A."
Unfortunately, McCain opposed President Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. McCain voted against repealing the Death Tax in 2002. Also, in 1998, McCain embraced former Sen. Tom Daschle's (D.-S.D.) motion to approve Big Tobacco's Master Settlement Agreement, including a $1.10-per-pack cigarette-tax increase.
"I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues," McCain conceded to Wall Street Journal editorialist Stephen Moore. "I still need to be educated."
Conservatives seeking a proven leader to lasso taxes and rein in runaway spending have a natural choice for President: Rudolph W. Giuliani.
People should take a look at Ruday's record and read the article above.
Rudy PING
((((( PING )))))
RUDY PING LIST
Lert me know if you want on or off the list.
Thanks!
While certainly not a social conservative, Rudy has a highly enviable record in controlling government spending and making government work effectively.
I jus done came fer the purty pic'tures of Ms. Geeuleeani in dat dere drag photo of hers.
Please put me on your Rudy ping list.
Tancredo and Paul both have extensive and real records proving their fiscal conservatism. I don't buy any that snake oil salesman Giuliani says.
I want to like Rudy, but his Second Amendment position is a deal-breaker.
And what do you think Hillary's position is on the 2nd amendment?
Rudy also backtracked some on his anti gun stance.
Where's the barf alert?
Rudy has a record as NY Mayor.
Tancredo and Paul have nothing but talk, not to mention that they both demonstrate continuously that they are incapable of living in reality and looking at the big picture, which is critical for a President and Commander-in-Chief.
This is what doomed McQueeg with me. I'd never heard of Dubya in 2000, and, like many, automatically supported the Arizona Senator. John signed his political death warrant with the Estate Tax vote, and threw a few shovels of dirt with the "Gang of 14" BS.
Ron Paul and Tancredo are "unelectable" according to the MSM and you know they're the smartest people around. They also have the best interests of the country at heart.
That is, they are unelectable if anyone in the MSM even mentioned that either is running. Just ask Sean Hannity about how Rudy, Romney, or McCain are the real Reagan conservatives for '08.
REad the record, the author cites FACTS and as I pointed out this appeared in the very conservative Human Events.
Hillary has warned, "We are going to take things from you for the common good."
Using Human Events' term, it's the supply-sider versus the Marxist-Leninist "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need."
Or, as Hillary would delicately describe her potential rule,
McCain voted against repealing the Death Tax in 2002.
----
Karl Marx did not believe in transferring wealth within a family to a next generation either.
The Titantic was a great ship. Oh, and by the way, it sunk...
Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic Ping List:
Please ping me to all note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.
"Most of Clinton's policies are very similar to most of mine." - Rudy Giuliani
Giuliani
Clinton
Dem Platform
GOP Platform
Abortion on Demand
Supports
Supports
Supports
Opposes
Partial Birth Abortion
Supports
Opposed
NY banSupports
Supports
Opposes
Roe v. Wade
Supports
Supports
Supports
Opposes
Taxpayer Funded Abortions
Supports
Supports
Supports
Opposes
Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Supports
Supports
Supports
Opposes
Federal Marriage Amendment
Opposes
Opposes
Opposes
Defined at
state levelSupports
Gay Domestic Partnership/
Civil UnionsSupports
Supports
Supports
Opposes
Openly Gay Military
Supports
Supports
Supports
Opposes
Defense of Marriage Act
Opposes
Opposes
Opposes
Supports
Amnesty for Illegal Aliens
Supports
Supports
Supports
Opposes
Special Path to Citizenship
for Illegal AliensSupports
Supports
Supports
Opposes
Tough Penalties for
Employers of Illegal AliensOpposes
Opposes
Opposes
Supports
Sanctuary Cities/
Ignoring Immigration LawSupports
Supports
Supports
Opposes
Protecting 2nd Amendment
Opposes
Opposes
Opposes
Supports bansSupports
Confiscating Guns
Supports
Confiscated
as mayor.
Even bragged.Supports
Supports
Supports bansOpposes
'Assault' Weapons Ban
Supports
Supports
Supports
Frivolous Lawsuits
Against Gun MakersSupports
Filed One
HimselfSupports
Opposes
Gun Registration/Licenses
Supports
Supports
Opposes
War in Afghanistan
Supports
Supports
Voted for itSupports
Supports
War in Iraq
Supports
Supports
Voted for itSupports
Weak supportSupports
Patriot Act
Supports
Supports
Voted for it
2001 & 2006Opposes
Supports
Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do and how you do it.
Rudy Giuliani
I detest McCain for too many reasons to count.
I’m pro-choice. I’m pro-gay rights, Giuliani said. He was then asked whether he supports a ban on what critics call partial-birth abortions. “No, I have not supported that, and I don’t see my position on that changing,” he responded. Source: CNN.com, “Inside Politics” Dec 2, 1999 http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Rudy_Giuliani_Abortion.htm
ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES (November 14, 2006)
RUDY GIULIANI (R), FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: I'm pro- choice. I'm pro-gay rights.KING: Giuliani supports a woman's right to an abortion, and back in 1999, he opposed a federal ban on late-term abortions.
GIULIANI: No, I have not supported that, and I don't see my position on that changing.
KING: Immigration could be another presidential landmine. Back in 1996, Mayor Giuliani went to federal court to challenge new federal laws requiring the city to inform the federal government about illegal immigrants.
JEFFREY: He took the side of illegal immigrants in New York City against the Republican Congress.
KING: Giuliani opposes same-sex marriage but as mayor, he supported civil unions and extending health and other benefits to gay couples. He also supported the assault weapons ban and other gun control measures opposed by the National Rifle Association.
GIULIANI: I'm in favor of gun control. I'm pro-choice.
Republican Big-Wigs Support Pro-Abortion Event in NY
Pro-abortion Governor George Pataki and New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who also supports unrestricted abortion, are co-chairs of the 2000 Choice Award Presentation to be held on May 30 at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City. The event is sponsored by the Republican Pro-Choice Coalition, a group that is campaigning for the removal of the pro-life plank from the Republican National Platform.
http://www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock200503010743.asp
"it's the supply-sider versus the Marxist-Leninist "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need."
BINGO! The choice for any REAL conservative should be obvious.
They wouldn't have their Congressional records or anything, righ? They don't call Paul "Dr. No" for no reason.
"Tancredo and Paul have nothing but talk...."
Bull. They both have long, proven voting records of fiscal conservatism. Tancredo and Paul were two of only ten or eleven members of the house of representatives (435 members in total) who stood up against excessive spending in after Katrina. Both voted against the medicare prescription drug deal. Both have all kinds of "friends of the taxpayer" awards and top rating from just about every fiscal conservative group out there.
Yes, I detest Rudy McRomney too. Democrats with R's by their names.
Would you please STOP? Do you take PayPal?
FGS.
Don't you get it? The Free Republic code is:
R = good. D = baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.
Please get with the program.
If Rudy was merely neutral on the social issues, then I would not have much of a problem with his candidacy for the nomination.
Rudy seems ready and willing to use whatever lever his has at his disposal to solve a problem, and that seems to threaten some core issues for me at least.
Yes, and it's obviously not the beneficiary of this stupid puff piece. I have no idea why Terry Jeffrey allowed this in Human Events. Maybe finally after all these years, Beltway Fever has infected even him. Damned shame.
Liberals are liberals, no matter what letter happens to be by their name.
Hillary's trolls are at it again. I swear they stalk these boards just waiting for the Rudy threads to pop up. No life.
In your world principles are for sale. Not in mine.
We (Mr. and Mrs. RQSR) had a negative premonition of Schwarzenegger, but we had Gray Davis in California. Something had to be done (vote for change) and it was done holding our noses and praying for the best. It didn't happen. Siiiiiiiiiiigh
Now along comes Giuliani as favored Republican nominee and that same negative premonition we had is back as more and more jump on the Rudy bandwagon.
Where Schwarzenegger married into a family of Leftist baggage, Rudy has accomplished it all on his own.
As we stated in another post, Rudy is a "Niche" kinda guy, as Mayor of NYC he was OK, quite successful by all indications, but we cannot see him as President of the United States of America.
Giuliani=Lieberman. They're so similar it's beyond belief. I wonder how many people here like Lieberman back in 2000. Probably none. Somewhere between 2000 and now the republican party moved further to the left.
Not exactly; Tancredo has his one issue, and Paul is swiftly becoming the left's favorite Administration basher.
(The Republicans will unite in 2008 around (Guiliani, Romney, McCain or Rice)-take that Hillary!)
Hillary wouldn't be so bad if she just had an R next to her name. Most of the people around this forum wouldn't be so mean to her if she just had an R. Some extremists would probably still call her a liberal or some other slur popular among ultra-right-wingers, but most would understand she's good now.
Schwarzenegger vetoed many of the socialist bills the Dem Legislature passed, people keep ignoring that -- bills that a Dem governor would have signed, everything from government run REAL socialist healthcare, to drivers licences to illegals, to marriage for homosexuals, tax increases and the list goes on.
He should just put a D there and be honest.
I'm voting for Rudy; and if I am I think most are.
Sad, but true. After all "SHE CAN WIN," right?
*retch*
Rudy McRomney scored a combined 25% in the last FR poll.
See tag line.
All these people telling us how "conservative" they are, while they bash nonstop any Republican who has any chance of beating the Dems but NEVER, NEVER criticize Democrats.
Makes one wonder as to their real credentials, as you implied.
Schwarzenegger's vetos are few and far between. Now he's foisting socialized medicine for illegals.
Or a "T", ( for the punch bowl condiment)
"Facts are stubborn things; and what ever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they can not alter the state of facts, and evidence." - John Adams
Rudolph Giuliani is nearly 100% in phase with the Democrat plaform, and almost 100% out of phase with the Republican platform. And them's the facts, Jack.
Great post!
BUMP!
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) was awarded the Taxpayers’ Friend Award for 2005 by the National Taxpayers Union. Tancredo’s score by the group ranks him as the third most fiscally conservative Member of the House of Representatives. Tancredo has won the award every year since he was elected to Congress.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1584795/posts
See also:
Now the real Rudy record.
From the Manhattan Institute for POlicy Research:
TAXES: Giuliani did cut the marginal city income tax rates, reducing taxes by some $2.0-billion from 1996-2001, but those cuts only offset the $1.8-billion increase in city income tax rates put in place by Mayor Dinkins a few years earlier. In the end, taxes were actually cut by a modest $200-million. Freezing the 12.5% surcharge on high wage earners was good, but Giuliani didn't attempt to abolish that surcharge. Nor did Giuliani attempt to make serious permanent changes the city income tax code. The primary reason Rudy and the City Council agreed to cut taxes, was to make NYCity more appealing to new businesses thinking about locating/relocating to the Big Apple. A smart move, however, Rudy left office with NYCity the highest taxed big city in America, with some of the highest income taxes, property taxes and utility rates in the entire nation.
GOVERNMENT SPENDING: From 1997 to 2001, spending under Giuliani went up 32%. More then double the rate of inflation. Rudy left NYCity with a $2.0 billion deficit and a $42-billion debt. Second largest debt after the federal government. Giuliani also added 15,000 new teachers to the city employment rolls. Increasing the membership of two major liberal organizations, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
"The scope of government was not reduced at all. The mayor abandoned his most visible initiative in this sphere—the proposed sale of the city hospital system—after a struggle with the unions and defeats in the courts. He did cut costs in social services; even before the new federal welfare reforms took effect in 1997, the city had begun to significantly reduce caseloads. But money saved on social services has only helped to subsidize big increases in other categories. Today the array of social services sponsored and partially funded by the city—from day care to virtually guaranteed housing—is as wide as ever.
"In the final analysis, Mayor Giuliani sought to make the city deliver services more efficiently—not to make the city deliver fewer services. Gains in efficiency were offset, however, by a spike in the costs of outsourced contracts (see point 2 below). Thus, in two areas where inroads might have been made, the city instead failed to reduce spending."
"1. Personnel Increases. In 1995–96, the city entered into a series of collective bargaining agreements with its public-employee unions. In addition to granting pay increases that ended up roughly equaling inflation, the city promised not to lay off any workers for the life of the contracts. These agreements were expected to add $2.2 billion to the budget by fiscal 2001. But that estimate didn’t reckon with renewed growth in the number of city employees. After dipping in Giuliani’s first two years, the full-time headcount rose from 235,069, in June 1996 to over 253,000 by November 2000. Thanks largely to this growth in the workforce, the total increase in personnel service costs since 1995 has been $4 billion.
2. "Outsourced Services. The failure to shrink the scope of city government made it all the more imperative that Mayor Giuliani vastly increase its efficiency. In the attempt to increase productivity, the mayor farmed out some city services to private contractors. But as the number of outsourced contracts doubled under Giuliani, contractual expenses also nearly doubled—from $3 billion to $5.8 billion. While it may be argued that the city saved money by outsourcing these services, the net savings turned out to be marginal at best. In practice, outsourcing proved to be more of a bargaining chip in negotiations with unions than a serious means of pruning expenses."
As the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research said: "Even with the tax cuts of the last several years, New York remains by far the most heavily taxed big city in the country."
Proof that Rudy Giuliani was NO fiscal conservative.
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