A little while ago I wrote about the plans of Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rangel to raise taxes by as much as $1 trillion over the next decade. Today several Democratic leaders in the House have debuted a plan to raise income taxes 'to pay for the war.'

According to the Congressional Budget Office's most recent projection of deficits going forward, the federal budget will have a budget surplus of more than $60 billion by 2012--even accounting for the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:

Is an increase of $140-$150 billion annually truly necessary--particularly since Democrats have already adopted a budget that will increase taxes by $400 billion? And where does this fit in with the plan of Chairman Rangel to raise taxes dramatically? And what of the proposals of many Democrats to allow President Bush's tax cuts to expire? Regrettably, these proposals are remarkably skimpy in detail. It's almost as if they don't want you to be able to tally up the total price tag.

Is it really wise to propose a series of mammoth tax increases at a time when the economy is slowing down and the federal fiscal picture is improving so dramatically? And even if Democrats are confident that their tax increases won't harm economic growth, it's worth remembering that the taxpayer burden is higher than it has ever been before:

As shown in Chart 1, the taxpayer burden has risen at a remarkable pace over the past 40 years as the federal government's appetite for spending on a per capita basis has soared. Even after adjusting for inflation, the taxpayer burden rose from $6,614 in 1996 to $8,197 in 2006--an increase of 24 percent over 10 years despite the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Taxpayers on average are actually paying twice as much in taxes as they were 35 years ago.

Lastly, while Democrats pitch this as a shared sacrifice to pay for the war, that claim doesn't hold water. Even they know that money is fungible, and they have proposed huge spending increases. Legislation passed by the Democratic Congress calls for an increase in federal spending of $21 billion in 2008, and $190 billion over the next 5 years. SCHIP will add to federal spending and so will an education reauthorization, farm programs... you name it.

It would be gratifying if Congressional leaders simply admitted that they want to spend far more than Republicans, and that they will need huge tax increases to do so. That type of candor would be refreshing.