CLINTON, SENATE DEMOCRATS DECLARE WAR ON AMERICANS

And so the politicians in Washington worked and sweated and agonized until after 3:00 a.m., deciding that your taxes are going up by the largest amount ever. Taking their cue fom the majority in Missouri's General Assembly, which spent the spring ramming through huge state tax increases, our taxaholics on the Potomac are in fine fettle. Truly, truly it must be said: "Gridlock" is over, and "efficiency" reigns. How do you like it?

Blame is clearly fixed; all hail the return of clarity to our politics.

Not a single Republican fingerprint, House or Senate, can be found anywhere on this turkey. Truly, when we reap the bitter harvest of this assault on America's producers, Middle America will know where to seek revenge. This one, they can't blame on old Dutch Reagan. (Speaking of old Dutch, the low rumbling sound you hear is his awesome coalition, reassembling itself to do battle with our current masters on the Potomac.)

Awakening Friday, Americans got the news. At 3:00 a.m. Friday, when George Mitchell trotted out Al Gore to break that tie, America could see what the Democrats are about. Rejecting faith in private solutions and free markets, virtually declaring war on struggling small business and employers everywhere, a majority of Democrats are collectivists passionate believers in statism.

Left to their own devices, they will fund their constituencies, stopping at nothing to confiscate and redistribute wealth someone else has earned. Their unspoken motto: Punish producers, reward non-producers. Aggressively, remorselessly, with great enthusiasm the Democrats redefine themselves. Campaign rhetoric aside, they are unimstakably the party of still Bigger Government; of higher taxes, lusting to punish achievement; a smug, self-righteous party, arrogantly ignoring a nearly united chorus emanating from Middle America, a chorus that says "Cut Spending First!"

The middle-class, wooed last fall with promises of tax cuts, is in for a whole range of devastating hits. Energy taxes, to be paid by all, will shrink production and fuel inflation by increasing the cost of literally everything. Taxes on Social Security recipients, who have saved prudently all their lives, are going up sharply. Message to all: Those who follow the old virtues of saving and frugality, sacrifice and deferred gratification are to be punished.

Tax rates on ordinary income are going up, way up, as Big Government confiscates still more capital our seed corn for future jobs. We already tax capital higher than any industrial nation, but a ten percent surcharge on capital gains will kill some companies and prevent others from ever starting up. A marriage penalty in the tax code will be worsened, further contributing to incentives for couples to live together without benefit of marriage. From the White House, and the House and Senate chambers, arise poisonous fumes of class warfare and envy, as our President sets groups of Americans against each other. And on, depressingly on.

And through it all: Lies, lies always lies and more lies. (An aside: Which way is the political wind blowing? Of the six Democrats voting No, five are up for reelection in '94.)

Among the most chilling aspects of this awful tax bill is the Orwellian rhetoric that accompanies it. Listen to President Clinton's statement, issued in the wee hours Friday morning, praising his partisans for approving his tax-laden budget:

"Tonight, the Senate voted for growth over gridlock by passing our plan. The Senate sent a strong signal to middle-class Americans that Washington can work to create jobs, increase incomes, and spur economic growth."

This is madness. It might as well be straight out of Orwell's "1984." Consider just exactly what Clinton is saying: Government can invest better than you can. Government Knows Best. A package of gigantic tax increases this year and phony spending cuts after 1996 is going to "spur the economy" by "investing" to "create jobs", to "increase incomes", to "reduce the deficit" all this by taking more money out of your pocket and giving it to the politicians to spend.

Do you buy that?

In 1978, deep in the dreadful malaise of Jimmy Carter years, a remarkable book, "A Time for Truth", was written by former Energy and Treasury Secretary William Simon. It was one of the first straws in the wind signaling the rise of Reaganism and a sharp turn in our nation's politics. That book's central theme rang out like a fire bell in the night. Simon warned his fellow countrymen and women: "A fundamental assault on freedom is transforming the country."

It's time again for a time for truth. After all the gains of the 1980s, this is happening all over again. Time for us all to redouble our efforts to turn back this assault, and once again, to win back our freedom.