Media Mythbusting: Bush Tax Cuts Didn't Work Well – They Worked Great
Posted by Jim Hoft on Monday, August 2, 2010, 2:07 PM
Speaking of cajones…
It’s too bad there aren’t more Republican and conservative leaders who had the cajones to slap down the journolist state-run media’s insulting attacks on our intelligence – that the Bush tax cuts did not work.
Yesterday, leftist William G. Gale penned this at the Washington Post:
Five myths about the Bush tax cuts
You just knew this report was coming after the steep decline in the US GDP during the second quarter of this year. Democrats spent close to a trillion dollars trying to stimulate economic growth and GDP instead went from 3.7% to 2.4% in the second quarter of this year.
Obama’s trillion dollar stimulus package failed.
Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi tripled the national deficit last year by nearly a trillion dollars – something unheard of in our nation’s history.
After an unheard of record deficit last year of $1.4 Trillion the economy is on track to experience a $1.3 Trillion deficit this year.
The democratic-media complex wants you to believe that this was Bush’s fault.
It’s a lie.
THE TRUTH – TAX CUTS GROW THE ECONOMY.
During the Bush years, despite the 2000 Recession, the attacks on 9-11, the stock market scandals, Hurricane Katrina, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush Administration was able to reduce the budget deficit from 412 billion dollars in 2004 to 162 billion dollars in 2007, a sixty percent drop. In 2004 the federal budget deficit was 412 billion dollars. In 2005 it dropped to 318 billion dollars. In 2006 the deficit dipped to 248 billion dollars. And, in 2007 it fell below 200 billion to 162 billion dollars. During the Bush years the average unemployment rate was 5.2 percent, the economy saw the strongest productivity growth in four decades and there was robust GDP growth.
Not only were more jobs lost after the 9-11 attacks in 2001 than in the 2008 market crash, but more jobs were created by President Bush’s pro-business policies and tax cuts than by the Obama-Pelosi “spend your way to hell” Keynesian failure.
The Foundry reported, via HotAir:
For objective observers the failure of President Obama’s $862 billion stimulus has become increasingly difficult to deny. But not for the White House. Last week, Vice President Joe Biden told Charlie Rose on PBS that the stimulus was “an absolute success.” Betraying a common perception about unemployment, Biden told Rose: “[W]e lost 8 million brand new jobs … since … 8 million brand new jobs since we hit the skids. On top of the 6% that were already unemployed. It took us several years to get there, it is going to take several years to get back to that number.” That is not quite true. In fact, the American economy has shed 55.4 million jobs since the recession began in the First Quarter of 2008. But at the same time the economy has only added 46.5 million jobs. Putting the two together produces the net approximate 8 million jobs lost that Biden referenced.
But isn’t net jobs all that really matters? Why should anyone care exactly how many jobs were lost and created since all that really matters is the net number of Americans who are no longer employed? Here’s why: despitean unemployment high of just 6.4%, more jobs were lost in the first seven quarters of the 2001 recession than were lost in the first seven quarters of this recession. How is that possible? How could job losses have been worse in 2001 but unemployment so much higher now? Weak job creation. The latest Bureau of Labor and Statistics data show that employers have created 8.6 million fewer new jobs this time around than they did almost a decade ago. Heritage Senior Labor Policy Analyst James Sherk estimates that lower job creation accounts for 65 percent of the recession’s decreased employment.
Our nation’s unemployment rate is hovering near 10% not because of record job losses, as Biden suggests, but because of record job non-creation. Private sector employers have gone on strike. Contrary to what the President’s economic wizards and New York Times columnists believe, massive government deficit spending does not stimulate job creation. President Obama does not have a secret vault of money he can just throw at the American people. The resources the government spends come from the economy. When the government increases spending, it crowds out the resources that business owners could have invested in their enterprises. Private investment falls sharply when government spending rises. According to Sherk, annual private fixed nonresidential investment has fallen by $327 billion since the recession started— a 19 percent drop. Less private investment means less hiring.
Don’t expect the democratic-media complex to report this any time soon.
ADVERTISEMENT
-
Featured Story:
Busted!… Obama Headlined a DEMOCRAT SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA Event in 1996 **FLIER**
Published May 24, 2012 at 8:46 pm - 91 Comments
Brooklyn commented:
Rock on Mr. Hoft.
GREAT To see your fine work…
MYTHBUSTING is required with deceitful Democrats.
The Heritage Foundation has a great piece on this one…
“Ten Myths About the Bush Tax Cuts” by Brian Riedl
I find it hard to see, even wince sometimes when I see some Celebrities on Our Side fail to answer this folly with a simple powerful response. Like a recent question from Wallace last Sunday, which suggested the Clinton TAX Increases (one of the biggest in US History), didn’t hurt us – IT DID!
Even Nobel Prize Winner Edward Prescott remarked on how the Clinton TAXATION increases helped create the Recession of 2000.
“Mr. Prescott said a large tax cut in 1986 had lowered rates while collecting the same revenue. But “in the early ’90s the economy was depressed by the tax increase in ’93 by about four percent, and it’s right at that level now,” Prescott said.”
Lowering taxation always grows the economy, and thus raises revenue for all. Overtly taxed UTOPIAN socialist states in Europa are a disaster, ripe with massive unemployment, cemented economic classes, oppressive regulations, a sincere lack of opportunity – freedom, a rising cost of living, a shrinking quality of life, etc.
Democrats never learn. They destroyed NJ with the same folly. McGreevy and Corzine massively increased spending – taxation – regulatins as the revenues dropped with their creation of a very poor economic climate in the Garden State. They crushed the economy to bribe their loyal UNION support, peddle influence, then kept sinking it further with more tax increases and regulations – and the DEFICITS Skyrocketed as the economy died. In fact, the folks in NJ were leaving the State in droves to survive.
We see the same thing on absurd terms happening with Pelosi-Obama-Reid-Clinton in Washington today. Just like the Carter Malaise before, and even like the Clinton Malfeasance which was blocked by the Republican takeover in Congress in 1994.
We need to stop these fools, before it is too late.
Chisum commented:
Poor dems- Their meme for the November elections is falling apart!
Now comes this news:
Rasmussen: For First Time, More Americans Blame Obama Than Bush for Economic Woes
http://www.conservatives4palin.com/2010/08/rasmussen-for-first-time-more-americans.html
Brooklyn commented:
“It’s too bad there aren’t more Republican and conservative leaders who had the cajones to slap down the journolist state-run media’s insulting attacks on our intelligence – that the Bush tax cuts did not work.”
Well yes, but the use of the word ‘cajones’ was fun – but the better responses on this question yesterday by far, was offered by Rep. Boehner and Sen. McConnell interviewed by Matthews yesterday.
They directly answered the absurd ‘fashion’ presented by Wallace, and weren’t forced to look down to read a prepared sheet (much like a Teleprompter) on the Bush Tax Cut numbers – which appeared truly odd – weak, and failed to address the true context of the question. Conservatives should review those interviews.
As much as one likes bold simplistic offerings, the content outside of Our Base is essential. We need to have “serious” responses which contain basis – like your post above. Articulating facts is essential, just as Conservatism relies on basis. Attention grabbing things like “cajones” alone, will not do the job. NO Conservative, even a youth, should not be able to reference why lower taxation grows a healthy economy, why the Free Market is stronger, which in the end grows revenue for all – or effectively address a false premise like the idea the Clinton TAX Increases did not hurt Americans.
Perhaps we should all review Sunday’s Big Show, to learn from the offering. It wasn’t the GOP’s 2 Elected Congressional Leaders who failed to strongly rebuke the sophomoric Democratic Talking Points yesterday.
Brooklyn commented:
Sorry, sometimes Wallace reminds me of Matthews for some reason. It was Wallace’s strange FOX show last Sunday I was referencing. Matthews is a typo.
James commented:
God bless you President George W. Bush, the greatest president in american history. Boy, do we miss you now.
bg commented:
++
aah yes,
Democrats Pro Bush Tax Cuts, and
Obama won the “lost” war in Iraq..
amongst many other stranger than fiction politics..
i truly don’t think things can get more bass ackwards, but they are going
to get a lot worse before they get better, sorry, make that IF they ever get better..
==
Andreas K. commented:
2010 and they’re still screaming “It’s Bush’s fault!”
Quite pitiful.
Peggy commented:
I was so annoyed a few weeks ago when Allman let McCaskill get away with this same claim. Arggh…As far as the federal (and state) budget is concerned, the problem has been spending and new entitlements. The economy did not tank b/c of low tax rates. The low tax rates forestalled disaster and helped recovery after the dot-com bust and 9-11. The economy tanked b/c of the shenanigans in home lending and banking industries. It had quite a rippling effect.
Bill Fabrizio commented:
“President Obama does not have a secret vault of money he can just throw at the American people”!
This must come as quite a surprise to those Detroit welfare queens who said that Obama was going to pay their mortgage, car payment, energy bill, etc. from “his stash”!
Maybe he’s just keeping “the stash” for himself! RACIST, er, HALF RACIST!
Sam Lederman commented:
I’m a fiscally conservative libertarian, but I’m sure these comments have me branded as a dreaded liberal.
This post and some of the comments are a good example of why the GOP is a dying political party. There seems to be a real avoidance of the truth. Even if tax cuts do help economic growth (and I’m sure you can find economists who would argue either way), that doesn’t change the fact that the Bush tax cuts in question decreased revenue by $2.3T and did not offset that lost revenue by paying for them. That tax cuts that aren’t paid for increase the deficit isn’t at all a lie made up by the liberal media. It’s a fact, and quite frankly, it’s just common sense.
Whether it’s Eric Cantor or Alan Greenspan or one of Ronald Reagan’s own economists (who recently equated extending the tax cuts to declaring bankruptcy) this isn’t really up for debate. When asked if tax cuts pay for themselves, Alan Greenspan responded with one word: “No.”
If your partisan lines run so deep that you cannot agree that decreasing revenues while not not offsetting expenses would raise the deficit, then you should look in the mirror. If you think that keeping the tax cuts while cutting spending is the way to go, feel free to suggest $2.3T plus the rate of inflation in spending cuts over the next 10 years.
Until there are suggestions that cut trillions off the deficit, keeping these tax cuts in place is a ridiculous suggestion.
mueller commented:
Until there are suggestions that cut trillions off the deficit, keeping these tax cuts in place is a ridiculous suggestion.
No it’s not.
Privatize SS for everyone below the age of 35. Modify Medicare so that recipients must first use a VA hospital or clinic before being referred to a specialist. A specialist that will agree to taking medicare.
There’s a couple of trillion right there.
Oh.And absolutely no public money for private institutions unless that institution is providing something real to the government.
So long ACORN.
I fail to see how letting me keep more of what I earn is a bad thing.
cna training commented:
Keep posting stuff like this i really like it
gus commented:
When Bush cut taxes. Revenue to the treasury exploded.
You libtards don’t know what you are talking about.
Mike L commented:
I see the graph above is from the CBO.gov website. That’s well and good, but there are some items clearly not included in it. Reducing spending should lower the national debt, correct? If you go to cbo.gov and look at the national debt from January 20, 2001, to today, you’ll see your boy George W. doubled the national debt during his adminstration. As of your dread healthcare bill and stimulus bill, Obama had added 20%. I’m not exactly happy with that myself, but let’s be honest folks. Turn off the Glenn Beck, come up with some real solutions to creating jobs, because tax cuts sure as hell didn’t do that towards the end of the decade, did they?