[RockinRight]

The elmination of corporate income taxes for anyone engaged in “manufacturing” would be a disaster - can you imagine the type of shenanigans that will go on, both in Congress and among tax-paying companies, to play with that exemption?

That's a good point. As much as I like the idea of encouraging US-based manufacturing, this would be so abused. Wait till someone claims they "manufacture" part of the World Wide Web.

[The Pack Knight]

I've been thinking about this, too, so I came up with a little multiple choice question over my lunch break the other day that I think anyone considering Santorum's tax proposal needs to consider.

Which of the following, if any, is a "manufacturing" business?

1. An integrated auto manufacturer.
2. An auto manufacturer that assembles cars from parts bought from China.
3. An auto dealer who buys cars without headlights, buys the headlights separately, installs them on site, and sells the cars.
4. An engineering consulting firm that designs cars.
5. A fast food restaurant.
6. A fast food restaurant's supplier.
7. A caterer.
8. A meatpacker.
9. A corn farmer.
10. A beef cattleman.
11. A dairy farmer.
12. A dog breeder.
13. A guy who makes cabinets by hand.
14. A toilet paper factory.
15. A software company.
16. A CD printing company.
17. A software company that owns its own CD presses and sells its software on CD-ROMs.
18. A movie studio.
19. A coal mine.
20. An oil driller.
21. An oilfield services company.
22. An oil refiner.
23. A homebuilder.
24. A prefabricated home manufacturer.
25. A mobile home manufacturer.

As you can see, some of them are easy, some not so easy. All of it, however, ultimately involves picking winners and losers in the economy in a rather arbitrary manner, something we conservatives were supposed to be against last I checked.

I cheered Santorum on in Iowa, but the tax plan makes it very hard to give him more than lukewarm support going forward.