Posted on 04/08/2008 3:02:20 AM PDT by Aristotelian
As the presidential campaign enters its final stages, there will be increased debate over budget priorities and how they will be paid for. Many commentators and political leaders, including Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, believe that tax increases are needed to restore near-term budget balance and finance longer-term entitlement growth.
These claims fail budget arithmetic and economics. Worse, they raise serious questions about the nation's broad fiscal policies and its commitment to economic growth.
By historical standards, federal revenues relative to GDP, at 18.8% last year, are high. In the past 25 years, this level was only exceeded during the five years from 1996 to 2000. Still, we stand on the verge of a very large tax increase, one that will occur unless the next Congress and president agree to rescind it. Letting the Bush tax cuts expire will drive the personal income tax burden up by 25% – to its highest point relative to GDP in history.
This would be the largest increase in personal income taxes since World War II. It would be more than twice as large as President Lyndon Johnson's surcharge to finance the war in Vietnam and the war on poverty. It would be more than twice the combined personal income tax increases under Presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The increase would push total federal government revenues relative to GDP to 20%.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Bottom line, you will become serfs for the “new leader!”
what did the piaps once rail about taking things away from you for the good of others??????
Another decade of high tax rates if a Democrat gets elected. Republicans including President McDole need to set a goal and state it, like 9% flat rate, just saying tax cuts isn’t enough.
"Starving the beast" has been a catastrophic failure.
Either the Republicans will (finally) sell drastic reductions in Federal spending, or taxes will rise to phenomenal levels.
The jig is up. The beast is winning.
LOL. He listens to only three things: The NY Times, his media handler telling him there is a news camera over there, and the crazy little man inside his head.
I want to hear Hil-bama explain how a tax hike will get the economy out of recession.
We need to start now describing this as the “road to depression”. They are going to relearn the Herbert Hoover lesson regarding how to finance the government, only worse, given the modern level of entitlements that they will want to sustain/expand.
If he got in with a democratic congress, we'll end up like the British Empire in a few years.
Get ready, folks! These Dems have painted themselves into a corner — both Congress and the presidential candidates are committed to this insanity. And people think we are in a recession now! Oh, and let’s not forget about canceling NAFTA and other free trade agreements... That will do wonders for our (and the world’s) economy.
The maximum 15 percent tax rate on net capital gains and qualified dividends was scheduled to expire at the end of 2008, but Congress extended them through 2010.
Thanks for the clarification..Too much useless info on google...
I thought it was 2010, thanks for that clarification.
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