Stephanie
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- Jul 11, 2004
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SNIP:
By JOHN MERLINE
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 08:05 AM ET
Nor were the Bush tax cuts a big failure as Obama claims.
Obama and other critics of Bush's tax cuts argue that they did little to boost economic growth or jobs. But they tend to start their count when Bush signed the first tax cut bill into law in mid-2001.
The problem is that much of that tax plan including reductions to most of the income tax brackets wasn't scheduled to take full effect until 2006.
Bush's second tax cut, signed in May 2003, accelerated those tax cuts, letting them kick in retroactively to the beginning of that year. The 2003 law also cut taxes on capital gains and dividends.
It turns out that the month after Bush signed that 2003 law, jobs and the economy finally started growing again.
From June 2003 to December 2007, the economy added 8.1 million jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate fell to 5% from 6.3%. Real GDP growth averaged close to 3% in the four-plus years after that, and the budget deficit fell steadily from 2004 to 2007.
And despite Obama's claim, Bush's policies did not increase income inequality. In fact, inequality was the same when Bush left office as when he came in, according to the Census Bureau. A study by University of California economist Emmanuel Saez found that inequality has climbed much faster under Obama.
What's more, the rich ended up paying a larger chunk of the federal income tax burden after Bush's tax cuts went into effect, with the share paid by the top 1% rising to 40% by 2007, up from 37% the year before Bush took office, according to IRS data.
The Congressional Budget Office, meanwhile, found that the federal income tax was more progressive in 2007 than it was back in 1979.
Obama is correct that the country has tried a combination of deregulation and tax cuts before. That took place under President Reagan.
Reagan aggressively deregulated entire industries, while putting the brakes on new federal rules. As a result, regulatory compliance costs fell 8% during his time in office, and staffing dropped almost 7%.
At the same time, Reagan's tax cuts knocked taxes as a share of GDP down by 6%.
The result was an almost eight-year economic boom in which real quarterly GDP growth averaged 4.3%.
That's nearly double the average growth rate Obama's economic policies produced during the 3-year-old recovery.
all of it here/
Obama Tells Tall Tales About Bush Years To Attack Romney - Investors.com
SNIP:
By JOHN MERLINE
INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY
Posted 08:05 AM ET
Nor were the Bush tax cuts a big failure as Obama claims.
Obama and other critics of Bush's tax cuts argue that they did little to boost economic growth or jobs. But they tend to start their count when Bush signed the first tax cut bill into law in mid-2001.
The problem is that much of that tax plan including reductions to most of the income tax brackets wasn't scheduled to take full effect until 2006.
Bush's second tax cut, signed in May 2003, accelerated those tax cuts, letting them kick in retroactively to the beginning of that year. The 2003 law also cut taxes on capital gains and dividends.
It turns out that the month after Bush signed that 2003 law, jobs and the economy finally started growing again.
From June 2003 to December 2007, the economy added 8.1 million jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate fell to 5% from 6.3%. Real GDP growth averaged close to 3% in the four-plus years after that, and the budget deficit fell steadily from 2004 to 2007.
And despite Obama's claim, Bush's policies did not increase income inequality. In fact, inequality was the same when Bush left office as when he came in, according to the Census Bureau. A study by University of California economist Emmanuel Saez found that inequality has climbed much faster under Obama.
What's more, the rich ended up paying a larger chunk of the federal income tax burden after Bush's tax cuts went into effect, with the share paid by the top 1% rising to 40% by 2007, up from 37% the year before Bush took office, according to IRS data.
The Congressional Budget Office, meanwhile, found that the federal income tax was more progressive in 2007 than it was back in 1979.
Obama is correct that the country has tried a combination of deregulation and tax cuts before. That took place under President Reagan.
Reagan aggressively deregulated entire industries, while putting the brakes on new federal rules. As a result, regulatory compliance costs fell 8% during his time in office, and staffing dropped almost 7%.
At the same time, Reagan's tax cuts knocked taxes as a share of GDP down by 6%.
The result was an almost eight-year economic boom in which real quarterly GDP growth averaged 4.3%.
That's nearly double the average growth rate Obama's economic policies produced during the 3-year-old recovery.
all of it here/
Obama Tells Tall Tales About Bush Years To Attack Romney - Investors.com