Elite Socialism
Who would have thought that this would happen? Jesus Christ, they act like this is an unintended consequence or something.
posted by George W. Bush at 9:36 AM
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
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5 Comments:
This looks like great news to me. Tax rates are becoming flatter and the investment is being encouraged.
The tax cuts on dividends are just eliminating double taxation, the government still gets its pound of flesh.
In case you haven't noticed the economy is roaring along with very low inflation (around 3%) and unemployment (4.7%). I would say the tax cuts worked as designed.
Federal revenues are at an all time high, even with the cuts because of the growth. If congress and Bush hadn't been spending like drunken sailors the budget would be closer or in balance even with the war.
"In case you haven't noticed the economy is roaring along..."
Herein lies the fallacy that hurtleg and others have bought into. I guess the "logic" goes like this: low inflation and unemployment are the benchmarks of a roaring economy, and tax cuts for wealthy people are the sole means to achieve these ends.
It's more full of holes than a wiffle ball.* I can't imagine a more simplistic and short-sighted view of what constitutes economic health. If you weren't in the book club when we read Perfectly Legal, I suggest you give it a read. If nothing else, you'll take away the unassailable conclusion that the gap between rich and poor which our tax code enables and encourages is terrible for the "economy."
"Federal revenues are at an all time high, even with the cuts because of the growth."
So what happens when the growth slows down - do we reinstitute the taxes? Its proponents want to make this cut permanent. The unspoken assumption must therefore be that this "growth" will also remain permanent, and anyone who really believes this shouldn't be creating tax policy. It's as frightening as the guy who said, "Reagan proved that defecits don't matter."
If tax cuts have reduced unemployment, and full employment is the ideal economic indicator, why don't we just ELIMINATE TAXES ALTOGETHER?
* mk, you may use this freely if you'd like.
Following up on my previous comment, I look forward to our illustrious guest-economist RajinCajun berating me for my cloying liberal shibboleths. I'm especially curious what he thinks about the direct correlative effect of tax cuts on unemployment.
I don't really care about wiffle ball metaphors, but do you mind if I use "cloying liberal shibboleths"? I have a feeling that phrase will come in very handy.
"low inflation and unemployment are the benchmarks of a roaring economy, and tax cuts for wealthy people are the sole means to achieve these ends. ... I can't imagine a more simplistic and short-sighted view of what constitutes economic health"
So how do you measure economic health if not growth, inflation and unemployment?
I also never claimed and do not believe that cutting taxes on the rich are the only way to achieve this goal. Reducing regulation and govt. interference in the market also helps. So would reducing government spending and eliminating the deficit.
"If tax cuts have reduced unemployment, and full employment is the ideal economic indicator, why don't we just ELIMINATE TAXES ALTOGETHER?"
This is just absurd. No one advocates this. There are some services that only a government can provide adn taxes are needed to fund them. Only an anarchist would want this. (plus I would think at a theoretical level there would be diminishing returns).
"I'm especially curious what he thinks about the direct correlative effect of tax cuts on unemployment. "
The economy is too diverse and complex to simply state that one action has a direct proportional effect elsewhere. If the government cut taxes in a time of high inflation, employment probably would not go up much becasue the cost of capital would be too high for investment and growth that create the jobs.
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