Muscatine

"As I understand your writings."

Those words describe it all. Clearly, you do NOT understand his writings nor do you understand how economics works, yet you will argue from here to doomsday about it all the time trying to make anyone think you have a brain cell. We are not fooled.

BTW - you referred to the Bush tax cuts - as of December 2010 they became the Obama tax cuts. Please correct your writing in that regard.

I will indulge you once more, but this is the last of it.

Businesses do pass on taxes by raising their prices (or laying off people, or moving the business, etc.).  As an example, look at the gasoline industry, the liquor industry, the tobacco  industry, etc., etc.

The competitive restraint that limits pricing only applies between competitors within the same business.  It doesn't apply when taxes are raised on all the competitors across the board.  All raise their prices in that case (or take other unpalitable steps to recover the cost of the taxes.)

But when only one business decides it will raise prices, they had better offer more value than the others within that field, or they will not be able to sustain their price increase.  That is why I say it is "value competition" and say their is no real price competition.

Now go do some study on your own.  Quit freeloading here.

An example: Why are there no (just) liquor stores in Muscatine anymore? See how simple it is?