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I hope dean brings balancing the budget into the debate in 04 because it is an important issue. But he is also going to have inform us of how he plans to balance the budget. What is going to have to cut(if anything gets cut) and what taxes are going to be raised.
Vermont had one of the highest per capita tax burdens in the country when Howard Dean left the governorship in January to run for president.
Mr. Dean, a Democrat who calls himself a "fiscal conservative," says he balanced all his state budgets by cutting spending. And allies and critics alike praise his budget-balancing record.
Vermont enjoyed a budget surplus this year while most states were in the red because of the recession that began three years ago.
What the former governor doesn't say is that he raised hundreds of millions of dollars in higher taxes, including sales taxes, cigarette taxes, property taxes and corporate taxes, to balance the books while paying for his social welfare proposals.
I hope dean brings balancing the budget into the debate in 04 because it is an important issue. But he is also going to have inform us of how he plans to balance the budget. What is going to have to cut(if anything gets cut) and what taxes are going to be raised.