Colin Powell Now; Colin Powell Then

Colin Powell Now:

"The Republican Party is in deep trouble," Powell told corporate security executives [on Tuesday] at a conference in Washington sponsored by Fortify Software Inc. The party must realize that the country has changed, he said. "Americans do want to pay taxes for services," he said. "Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less."
May 5, 2009

Colin Powell Then:

"We are the party committed to lessening the burden of taxes, cutting government regulations and reducing government spending, to generate the higher economic growth that will bring better jobs, wages and living standards to all our people. All of us must be willing to do with less from government if we are to avoid condemning our children with a crushing burden of debt that will deny them the American Dream. It is the entitlement state that must be reformed, and not just the welfare state."
In his speech to the Republican National Convention - Aug. 12, 1996

"I am concerned that the present tax burden on Americans is so high that it seriously risks dampening our entrepreneurial vitality. Every tax dollar taken away from a consumer or business is a dollar that will be spent less efficiently than if left in private hands."
From Colin Powell's Autobigraphy, 'My American Journey' - 1995

Oh well........