May 27, 2009 8:48AM 

# Game, Set, and Match to Sowell over Powell 

By [Daniel J. Mitchell](https://www.cato.org/people/daniel-mitchell) 

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With just one sentence, Tom Sowell [thoroughly demolishes](http://townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2009/05/26/random_thoughts) Colin Powell’s statist assertion that the American people want higher taxes:

> Just days after Colin Powell informed us that the American people were willing to pay higher taxes in order to get government services– and that Republicans therefore needed to stop their opposition to taxes– California voters resoundingly defeated a bill to raise taxes in order to pay for the many government services in that liberal state.

##### Related Tags 

[Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) 

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