Talk about being off message. In the waning days of state Senator Rollie Heath's campaign to raise taxes by $3 Billion in Colorado through Prop 103, one of the biggest supporters of the ballot initiative, the Bell Policy Center, put out a "study" claiming that Prop 103 won't actually kill jobs (PDF). If the debate is framed over job losses, you can be assured it's not to the advantage of tax hike supporters.
The Bell Policy Center's flimsy and poorly argued "study" only ensures that the expected job losses stemming from Prop 103 will continue to dominate the conversation, which is exactly where the groups who published the two previous studies (here & here) showing massive job losses under Prop 103 wanted it to be.
So what is Bell Policy Center's argument, you ask?
They admit higher taxes wrecks jobs, but drop some Keynesian candy on the other side, contending that more government spending will create more jobs, effectively negating any job loss from the tax hike. From the "study":
Economic analyses show that while tax increases are likely to slow job growth, increases in state spending tend to increase job growth. In fact, several studies suggest that the increased number of jobs related to additional state spending would exceed the losses due to tax increases.
The first part of their contention is correct…more taxes does kill employment.
The second part of the study, however, is patent nonsense.
And the rebuttal can be summed up in 3 words.
Failed. Stimu. Lus.
If more spending resulted in more jobs, unemployment would be on the endangered species list right now.
The Bell Policy Center must not have read the Wall Street Journal's obituary for Keynesian economics back in April.
Nor must they have paid attention last November when 63 Republicans beat incumbent Democrat Congress critters over the same failed economic theory laid out in the Bell Policy "study."
We suggest they do pay attention next month when Prop 103 goes down in flames.