I agree that just promoting how tax hikes dont increase revenue is a kind of final defense. If thats all we were using to argue against them, I think wed be on defense rather than just flexing our defense,.
With the way IT diversifies media, cultures and economies, I think social trends are harder to measure. For every 10 reasons I could list that were moving leftwards, I could list 10 to counter them.
No house flooding here, just a half block closer to the Ocean. I guess Rita missed you, how about Katrina? She at least blew a bunch of limbs around here.
I happen to agree with your point that increasing taxes decreases revenue, at least it does at the levels used today.
But I've pretty much come to the opinion that the income tax is the means by which the federal goverment became so powerful and broke the bonds by which the Constitution formerly bound it, so I'd almost like to see the tax abolished.
I do think we're moving steadily leftwards, with pockets of resestance like FR. I'm not optomistic that it can be reversed, but who knows?
Katrina came almost over us, but as a minimal cat 1, she wasn't much problem. Lots of branches down, lots of trees in the neighborhood down, a few roads blocked. Neighborhood was out of electricity for the better part of a week. Still, no big deal.
Rita scared us more, I actually put up some shutters, but she turned out to be a non event for us, thankfully. I heard that Key Largo got more breeze from Katrina than Rita, but had some flooding on the ocean side from Rita, since she passed south.