MICHAEL BARONE: Hold The VAT — Taxpayers May Prefer Spending Cuts. You think? “Barack Obama’s project of turning the United States into something more like Western Europe has stirred strong opposition and generated much less enthusiasm. What’s happening in states like Virginia and New Jersey — and what happened not so long ago in Canada, Sweden and Finland — suggests that voters may support spending cuts more than most American politicians and pundits have assumed. And much more than a value added tax.”