December 17, 2009 1:06PM # Tax Hike Commission By [Chris Edwards](https://www.cato.org/people/chris-edwards) --- SHARE The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee is [holding hearings today](http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings.Hearing&Hearing_ID=9970f7b6-0f70-4373-87b8-d33e0f4c90c1) focused on Senator Kent Conrad (D‑ND) and Judd Gregg’s (R‑NH) idea to set up a special Task Force to draft a deficit-reduction plan. The plan would get fast-tracked through Congress for a vote and “everything would be on the table.” For taxpayers, this idea creates the [threat of large tax increases on top of all the other tax increases being discussed in Congress](http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTU0ODZmNjBhMGY5ODVlMTJhNzVlNDhkNjM4ZWE1NGE=). While the senators supporting a Task Force express valid concerns about the government’s exploding debt, the plan could launch a drive to impose a European-style value-added tax in America. In theory, such a Task Force could come up with some meaty and long-overdue cuts to the federal budget. [But nine of the senators co-sponsoring the Conrad-Gregg Task Force, including Conrad, voted in favor of the massive spending bill passed by the Senate on Sunday](https://www.cato.org/2009/12/14/spending-dissimulation/), which increased appropriations by 10 percent in a single year. In calling for deficit reduction, Senator Conrad says that “it is no longer enough for Congress to simply talk about reform; it is time for action and leadership.” [But Senator Conrad certainly hasn’t shown reform leadership on farm subsidies](https://www.cato.org/2009/12/15/conrad-just-dont-cut-my-programs/). So until he and his colleagues start restraining their own spending appetites, it’s safe to assume that “everything on the table” really just means a sneaky, under-the-table tax increase. ##### Related Tags [General](https://www.cato.org/general), [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).