Why I’m Hoping for a Mitt Romney-Paul Ryan Ticket

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mr. bill you keep troting out the same old foolishness.if your,and other people of your mind set, if under your theory lower tax rates generated all this reveune.the government under george bush"s plan would have been in the black
The article from the american prospect reaffirms the fact that the government need an increase in revenue. all this g.o.p. rhetoric about just cutting tax rates will not get us where we need to get to.from a fiscal standpoint.

bruce b of NV 4:31PM April 10, 2012

Wrong Bill.
In the 4 years post Bush tax cuts, while we pursued pointless war in first Afghanistan then Iraq, Tax Revenue as percentage of GDP fell from 19% to 16%. There was some rebound in the economy mostly fueled by a housing bubble beginning in 2004 and the tax revenue as percentage of GDP rose from 16% to just over 18%. When the economy tanked in late 2008 and the Bush tax cuts then failed to expire, the tax revenue reversed course and bottomed out around 15% of GDP where it now still is. Not enough time to address every falsehood in your post Bill, tell us when the magic ponies return.

protanomalous of MA 4:10PM April 10, 2012

Freeman of MN, it's called a bubble and the growth was artificial. When it burst we saw 7% contractions in GDP. next.

D of OH 4:04PM April 10, 2012

Freeman of MN
"In every case over the last 60 years, major tax cuts have more than paid for themselves. In fact, every major tax cut since JFK has been followed by substantial increases in revenue, not to mention solid economic growth. Moreover, total federal revenue rose at a faster rate after each of those tax cuts than it did before them. Anyone can confirm these basic facts for themselves by checking federal budget data and economic indicators before and after major tax cuts (see, for example, Federal Budget Data, Data 360 Unemployment U.S., and Total Economy Database). Let’s take a closer look at the results of the last four major tax cuts (and then for good measure we’ll examine the Mellon tax cuts of the 1920s)."
"Bush Tax Cuts: President George W. Bush’s 2003 tax cuts generated a massive increase in federal tax revenue and were followed by 52 consecutive months of economic growth. From 2004 to 2007, federal tax revenue increased by $780 billion, the largest four-year increase in American history. Total federal revenue from 2003 to 2007":
"2003 -- $1.78 trillion
2004 -- $1.88 trillion
2005 -- $2.15 trillion
2006 -- $2.40 trillion
2007 -- $2.56 trillion"
"Total federal revenue for 2008 dropped slightly, down to $2.52 trillion, because a recession started that year, but revenue was still substantially higher than it was in 2003 or 2004. During the same period, income tax revenue rose dramatically, going from $925 billion in 2003 to $1.53 trillion in 2007. As with other types of federal revenue, income tax revenue dropped slightly in 2008, down to $1.45 trillion, due to the fact that a recession began that year."
"It’s important to keep in mind that the recession had nothing to do with the tax cuts. The recession was brought on by destructive federal intervention in the subprime mortgage market, irresponsible funding and securitization of subprime loans by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, unsound Federal Reserve monetary policy, a lack of oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission, greed and fraud committed by certain large banks and investment firms, and consumers who bought homes they really couldn’t afford."
http://www.mtgriffith.com/web_documents/taxcutfacts.htm

Bill Hedges of MO 3:06PM April 10, 2012

This article made some sense till the very end when it mentions that Republicans want government scaled back to the 1950s - it's that they don't: Average Highest and lowest marginal tax rate in the 1950s: over 75% and nearly 20%, US Tax Revenue as percentage GDP 1950's avg = 17.2%, last 3 years 15.25%. They don't want the '50's, they want 1804.

protanomalous of MA 2:07PM April 10, 2012

So let me get this straight. The author here admits that this budget plan will completely reverse the last 60 years of progress this country has made. If it fails then the GOP got what was coming to them. If it passes then the country gets what was coming to them as well. And yet no conservative out there has the brass to admit that if we simply roll back the Bush tax cuts and re-instate the Clinton era tax plan, we just might be able to pay for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and maybe even pay down our national debt. No no, lets go back to the dark ages where if you got sick, you died. Lovely. I can't wait for the this country to take a thousand steps backwards all for the sake of not taxing the rich.

Freeman of MN 1:43PM April 10, 2012