Ever say something you wish you hadn’t?
Or did you ever say something you shouldn’t have, but were too proud—or too uninformed—to admit you were wrong?
We will let you decide which option most applies to the following quotes about President Bush’s tax cut efforts:
- It “threatens our prosperity and could return us to the big budget deficits of the 1980s.” – Democratic Rep. Dick Gephardt, February 2001.
- The Bush tax cuts are “exactly why the budget is so far out of balance.” – Howard Dean, 2004 Democratic presidential candidate, September 2003.
- “What I would do as president is stop President Bush's tax cuts for the top two income tax brackets – people who make over $200,000 a year – close a whole group of corporate tax loopholes to generate revenue that will get us back on the path to fiscal responsibility.” – John Edwards, 2004 Democratic vice presidential nominee, September 2003.
- “I would say that for the most part the CBO will tell you that 45 percent of the reason we're in a deficit over the next 10 years is the tax cut, and the tax cut is what allowed us – or what caused the problem to a large extent – almost half of the deficit is caused by the tax cut over a 10-year period.” Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle, February 2002.
But facts are facts, and anyone interested in the truth must acknowledge that capital gains tax receipts are, according to the Congressional Budget Office, actually up—by 45 percent. Even though the capital gains tax rate was trimmed from 20 percent to 15 percent in 2003.
When the capital tax rate was cut, those holding stocks and other assets began to sell them rather than sit on them. Capital gains realizations hit $539 billion in 2005, far above the $269 billion mark of 2002.
The model works with income taxes, too. Lower rates produce more economic activity, which leads to higher revenues. Deficits are not a consequence of tax cuts; they’re a result of too much spending.
But we are having trouble finding equally opinionated quotes from the above-mentioned leaders on why spending is so bad.