Federal taxation for dummies

“Federal deficits were caused by Bush’s tax cuts for the rich.” That was a typical response I got from a previous post, “Federal Spending for Dummies.” It struck me as a legitimate reaction. After all, President Bush and a Republican-controlled Congress cut income tax rates for all workers in 2001. Specifically, they reduced the top marginal income tax rate from 39.6 percent to 35 percent. Additional tax-reduction legislation was passed in the ensuing years which lowered various tax rates for America’s most productive workers. The suggestion was that government revenues shrunk because of these tax cuts, depriving the treasury of funds and driving up the deficit to unprecedented levels. And yet an analysis of the data reveals liberal critics have it wrong …

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“Night of the Living Debt”

By Tom Quiner Is the government spending too much? You be the judge. In 1980, the federal government spent $2601 per citizen in 1980 dollars. By 2009, the federal government was spending $5002 per citizen, in inflation-adjusted 1980 dollars. We just about doubled spending per citizen. Are we twice as well off? [Read more at “Federal…

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Federal Spending for Dummies

By Tom Quiner I have a simple and effective way to assess federal spending.  I call it Federal Spending for Dummies. Use it as a handy voting guide tomorrow when you head out to vote. Here’s how it works. I take the total amount of money the federal government spends each year, including off-budget items…

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FEDERAL SPENDING FOR DUMMIES, Part One

As seen in the Des Moines Register, January 24, 2010 “I am confident we can get government off our backs and out of our pockets …” Ronald Reagan, November 3, 1980 “Read my lips, no new taxes.” George H. W. Bush, August 18, 1988 “The era of big government is over.” William Jefferson Clinton, January…

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