PrintNovember 20, 2004
Italy's Reagan
Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has always been deeply valued as a friend to the us in the U.S. for his unwavering support in the war on terror. He's also Europe's staunchest defender of Israel, and seeks to help Israel not only on security matters but economic matters, too, insisting that Israel too be allowed to join the EU. And further still, Berlusconi's spirited defense of the Judeo—Christian values that created Western civilization signal he is a man of great intellectual depth.
We admire him for his brilliant political skills, bringing out Italy's first stable postwar government by cobbling together a vast coalition where all predecessors failed. This week he did something else that illustrates further his heroic character. Take a look:
Silvio Berlusconi last night threatened to bring down his own government unless he could fulfil an election pledge to reduce income tax.
He is of course taking a risk, because anything of value worth having is a risk, and Italian friends are exhilarated but also a little nervous. A savvy Italian friend writes me this morning:
Silvio woke up, smelled the coffee and apparently is telling the pro—tax camp to get lost.. or face early elections.
To be sure, my friend thinks Berlusconi could have started earlier on this, and not doing so did raise his political risk:
In my humble opinion it was a big mistake to wait three years to start cutting taxes, and there is no way back on this. After (tax—cutting Giulio) Tremonti resigned as finance minister on the tax issues, things went exactly as I predicted: Berlusconi (briefly) giving up to the pro—tax camp lost him ten points in the opinion polls, and he was on his way to a slow but certain political death. Now apparently Silvio woke up to smell coffee...Let us see what happens...
With popular support obviously behind him, Berlusconi still may be able to make it. The Prime Minister is street smart enough to be able to read what the polls are telling him. Even if his fractious coalition allies cannot stand the idea of lowering taxes or have any faith in this to expand the tax base, they surely can read polls, raising Berlusconi's odds of success. If he succeeds, he will achieve a revolution in high—tax Italy.
Taxes of course are just money, and compared to Berlusconi's unwavering stance in the war on terror, it's might look like a small thing. But tax cuts are what Europe desperately needs, for itself, not for us, nor for any universal value; just itself, and in reality, for its own future.
Like our own President Reagan, Berlusconi has a striking ability to link tax cuts with economic growth. This in turn is the true means of ending external totalitarian threats, whether of communism or radical Islam. Berlusconi is a man who's studied history and who understands there's no substitute for victory.
