Not only that, but W essentially gave a phantom tax cut. While he most certainly cut everyones' taxes at the Federal level, he simultaneously cut funding for many state programs, which caused the states to raise the lost revenue via higher taxes. So, while the average person may have had a few hundred more dollars a year off of their Federal income tax, they likely had a similar amount added to their state taxes or will have it added in the future because the sate (and the Feds) borrowed the money to close the gap.
Moreover, Obama's plan will work because it has in the past and history demonstrates it can correct a huge Federal deficit like the deficit left by another 12 years of insane R rule. In 1993, the Federal deficit exceeded about $300 billion a year. Bill Clinton and Congress raised taxes and slashed spending. The effect was the deficits that had ballooned under Reagan and Bush 41 were tamed. Moreover, we had economic expansion, job creation, a stock boom, and a budget surplus of trillions of dollars when Clinton left office -- compare that to what we have now, which is insane debt, a crashing stock and housing market (due to non-existent regulation) , a ballooned national debt that W promised to pay off while in office with the rev. he expected to generate through the economic growth he promised to obtain through he tax cuts (which McSame was against)
I get that the Clinton economy was not perfect due to the dot.com bust, but clearly it was much better than the crapola W has let fester. McSame wants to extend that plan though he may (a big if) control the spending slightly better, though his current platform suggests he will not no matter what he says.
In the end, I am for the fair tax because the numbers show the poor will pay no tax and everone else pulls their own weight via a tax on their spending. I would even be for a flat tax where no one making under $75,000 a year is taxed at all. But, that fantasy will never happen. So, in the real world, I am for the plan that has been demonstrated to work very well despite any abstract economic theories that obviously have not worked in their application over the last 30 or so years.
09-18-2008, 09:05 AM
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