At the same time, German chancellor Angela Merkel is pushing for lower taxes to help her nation's economy, and our press have similarly been less than enthusiastic about sharing the news.
One of the exceptions in both cases is the Wall Street Journal which reported the following Tuesday:
The Hungarian parliament approved Monday a tax bill for 2010, a cornerstone of the country's attempts to boost its competitiveness and comply with conditions for International Monetary Fund loans. [...]
The new tax system will shift the tax burden more toward consumers and away from business. The bill will include a reduction in personal income taxes for average-income earners, a lowering of social security contributions for employers, and the launch of a real-estate tax next year, as well as an increase starting July 1 in one of the country's value-added taxes. The reformed system is revenue neutral for the budget, the government said.
A Google news search identified only WSJ and Reuters reporting this news in the States; a LexisNexis search identified no television news reports on this subject.
As for Germany, WSJ reported this Tuesday:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her plan to cut taxes despite the country's soaring budget deficit as she introduced her conservative alliance's manifesto ahead of national elections in September.
Lower incomes taxes would "provide motivation" and encourage economic growth, Ms. Merkel told a conference of her party, the Christian Democratic Union, and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union.
"It would be wrong not to do what is right and necessary for growth, and so prevent ourselves emerging quickly from this crisis," Ms. Merkel said in her conference speech.
Much as with Hungary's cuts, Merkel's plans have not been widely reported here. In fact, although she began floating this idea in mid-June, a LexisNexis search identified no television news outlets addressing it.
Not one!
With Germany a member of the G-8, as well as a prominent U.S. ally and major trading partner, shouldn't its fiscal policy changes be newsworthy here, or not if they conflict with what the Obama administration is doing?
Exit question: if Hungary and Germany were raising taxes, would our media be more interested in reporting it?
