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?
- An integrated auto manufacturer.
- An auto manufacturer that assembles cars from parts bought from China.
- An auto dealer who buys cars without headlights, buys the headlights separately, installs them on site, and sells the cars.
- An engineering consulting firm that designs cars.
- A fast food restaurant.
- A fast food restaurant's supplier.
- A caterer.
- A meatpacker.
- A corn farmer.
- A beef cattleman.
- A dairy farmer.
- A dog breeder.
- A guy who makes cabinets by hand.
- A toilet paper factory.
- A software company.
- A CD printing company.
- A software company that owns its own CD presses and sells its software on CD-ROMs.
- A movie studio.
- A coal mine.
- An oil driller.
- An oilfield services company.
- An oil refiner.
- A homebuilder.
- A prefabricated home manufacturer.
- 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.