DATE: Wednesday, November 12, 1997          TAG: 9711120007

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B10  EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   46 lines

FREE LUNCH HOAX DU JOUR

A Northern Virginia Democrat has launched a trial balloon, an alternative to the five-year phase-out of the personal-property tax on cars and trucks that turned former Attorney General James S. Gilmore III into Governor-elect Gilmore. State Sen. Charles J. Colgan, D-Prince William, suggests the elimination of the car tax immediately and substitution of a higher sales tax and car-title tax.

Republicans say this proves Democrats just don't get it. The critics are half right. Colgan ``gets'' the economics of the matter. The Gilmore plan is the promise of a free lunch, unless cuts in government services match the cuts in taxes. Colgan's plan is economically responsible in proposing to replace the unpopular car tax with an alternative levy that would raise the same amount of money and permit attention to education and transportation needs.

But the Democrat's plan is DOA. And maybe it is true that Democrats don't ``get'' the political-science lesson contained in the Gilmore win. Voters don't want to end one tax by increasing another. Not after Gilmore has assured them that economic growth alone will permit the phase-out of the car tax. They aren't interested in a choice between government services or tax cuts. They want government services and tax cuts. They want that free lunch.

A recent survey of 2nd District residents by Rep. Owen Pickett, while unscientific, demonstrates perfectly the mood of the electorate. Respondents were asked whether the military should be downsized further. No, said 79.6 percent. Should the government do more to manage managed care? Yes, said 78.1 percent. Should there be more government regulation of airline safety? Yes: 57.1 percent. Should there be a national policy to reduce American dependence on foreign oil? Yes: 75.7 percent.

So does all that yea-saying mean that 2nd District taxpayers want to foot the bill for a robust military and managing, regulating and policy-making for all that government? It does not.

Should the motor-fuel tax be increased to pay for needed roads, the Pickett survey asked? No: 60 percent. Should Medicare be means-tested to reduce the cost of entitlements? No: 55.7 percent. What's the biggest issue in the 2nd District? Taxes. What's the biggest issue facing the nation? Taxes.

Until Americans quit expecting a free lunch in the form of lower taxes and more government services at the same time, politicians can hardly be expected to stop promising to give it to them. Even if the promises they make are impossible to keep.

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