Mark Kelly's "Affordability" Agenda Comes With a Tax Hike Attached
Sen. Mark Kelly is promoting an "affordability" agenda — while acknowledging the legislation he's crafting with Sen. Chris Van Hollen would raise taxes.
The exchange was almost too perfect. Sen. Mark Kelly is out promoting an "affordability" agenda — lower costs for American families, the thing every voter wants to hear. Asked how he'd deliver it, he pointed to legislation he's working on with Sen. Chris Van Hollen.
The catch: the bill would raise taxes.
Kelly's goal, in his telling, is to lower costs for Americans. His mechanism is taking more of their money first. The comments are now fueling the obvious debate: can raising taxes actually deliver the lower costs voters are looking for — or is "affordability" just the sales pitch for a bigger government tab?
Kelly's defenders will say the tax increases target the right people, fund the right programs, and that investments today mean lower costs tomorrow. That's the theory. Voters have heard theories before.
The question on the table is simple, and it's the one Kelly couldn't dodge: if the plan to make life cheaper starts by making taxes higher, who's really being helped?