So the Republican-conservative far righters have presented no real justification for extending the Bush tax cuts? That being the case, why do the Republicans keep fighting to extend them?
Here is a 2007 analysis of the effect of the Bush tax cuts. The Republicans were making the same arguments then as they are now. They didn't work then, and they won't work now.
Published on OMB Watch (
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Bush Administration Contradicts Itself on Tax Cuts
By mlewis
Created 02/13/07
The President's Fiscal Year 2008 budget proposal has become a vehicle for advocating that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts be made permanent. GOP congressional leaders and administration spokespeople are justifying the tax cuts by playing the "health of the economy" card. Arguments in favor of making the tax cuts permanent range from the tempered:
"We think it's absolutely critical that they be extended in 2010, when they otherwise would expire. Why? Because they have contributed to this growing economy," -Rob Portman [1], Office of Management and Budget Director
To the misleading:
"Raising taxes . . . won't help balance the budget — it will slow the economic growth that is creating the new jobs of tomorrow and increasing revenue to the federal government…Keeping our economy strong and promoting fiscal responsibility will get the job done. Raising taxes won't." -House Minority Leader Rep. John Boehner [2], (R-OH)
To the absurd:
"Current pro-growth policies have fueled the sustained economic expansion that has created over seven million new jobs, boosted federal revenues, driven down the deficit, and put us on a path to balancing the budget." -Rep. Paul Ryan [3], (R-WI), Ranking Member, House Budget Committee
Much of this rhetoric rests on the belief that not only do tax cuts promote long-term economic growth, but that they also generate revenues as well as release them. This position, however, is contradicted by a 2006 Treasury Department study [4] that measured the "dynamic" impact of the of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.
Below are a few generalized talking points paired with the Treasury report's refutation:
Talking Point: The Bush tax cuts will generate significant economic growth over the long run.
Treasury Report: Even under optimal circumstances, there will be hardly any long-term economic growth due to the tax cuts.
The report found that the tax cuts generated only a marginal 0.7 percent of economic growth in the long run. Each year, for example, the tax cuts may increase GDP by less than half of a tenth of a percent, or 0.04 percent, when the economy is predicted to grow by nearly 100 times as much (or about three percent). And that's assuming the tax cuts are offset by cuts in spending or tax increases elsewhere, so they will not increase the deficit. This has not happened in the five years since the cuts have been passed and is not likely to happen if they are fully extended. (See Page 2 of the report)
Talking Point: Tax cuts will boost federal revenues.
Treasury Report: The U.S. government will lose around nine-tenths of the projected cost of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts.
Future taxes will bring in vastly less revenue than if the tax cuts had never been passed. At most, the growth estimates within the Treasury report implied that about one tenth of the money lost to the tax cuts will be recovered from new revenues that a bigger economy would produce. Nine tenths of the revenue initially released will not return to the Treasury. On balance, tax cuts will therefore significantly reduce federal revenues, which drives up the deficit unless spending is cut. If the tax cuts are not made permanent, federal revenues will increase and the deficit will be driven down, if not erased.
Talking Point: Failing to extend the cuts will reduce economic growth in the long run.
Treasury Report: The economy will get bigger if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire and spending is not cut.
The Treasury Department's report projects an additional 0.9 percent of economic growth if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire. More growth could occur because making the tax cuts permanent would build up large deficits and debt, which can be a drag on long-term economic expansion. (See Table 3, Page 23, of the report)
When asked to explain the President's comment suggesting that tax cuts pay for themselves, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow responded [5]:
MR. SNOW: But I've also heard people say, yes, we can say it's paid for. But you're asking me to play the role of economist, and as any first-year economic student will tell you, it's all about assumptions. So if you want to get into that argument, I really would suggest you talk to trained economists at the Department of Treasury or within our economic shop, and they'll be able to give you a more precise readout on it.
Perhaps the White House ought to talk to the economists at the Department of the Treasury, too. Targeted, temporary tax cuts that produce manageable deficits can stimulate the economy during a recession. But even experts in the Bush administration agree that the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, if permanent, would make the economy smaller and drive down revenues. The President and his supporters should stick to the facts when they speak to the American public about the economic impact of tax cuts.
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Source URL:
Bush Administration Contradicts Itself on Tax Cuts | OMB Watch
Links:
[1]
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/02/20070205-3.html
[2]
Bush Budget Projects A Surplus by 2012 - washingtonpost.com
[3]
http://www.house.gov/ryan/press_releases/2007pressreleases/2507budget.htm
[4]
http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/reports/treasurydynamicanalysisreporjjuly252006.pdf
[5]
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/02/20070206-6.html[/QUO
Why should we believe anything coming from the Feds??
The math is simple,you will hurt the middle class at a time that they are very vulnerable,put politics aside,it just common sense,leting people keep more of the money THEY earn is the right thing to do,the FEDS and state have beyond a shadow of dought have proven their ineptitude,why give them more just to piss it away??
Congress has the purse strings,and a 20% approval rating,would you hire a plumberto fix your sink that only get it right 20% of the time?