The current range of debate is so stilted and ahistoric that the Republicans talk as if simply letting the Bush tax cuts expire is a step on the Long March to Stalinism. In that situation, it is useful to remind people what our tax structure looked like when there were actual Stalinist nations in the world, especially since that period is generally remembered here as economic good times for ordinary people.
For instance, we currently have six tax brackets, the Ryan plan wants to collapse it to two, like we had from 1988 to 1990 except with even lower rates (10%/25% brackets under Ryan compared to 15%/28% under G.H.W. Bush). The earlier experiment was unsustainable, but the radicals on the Republican side crucified Bush for not sticking to his "read my lips, no new taxes" line in the face of reality. Even on the Democratic side, $250K was treated as a stark dividing line (the whole "is $250K rich?" debate). So it has value to note that within living memory we used to have some 24 brackets, with 16 of them affecting incomes over the equivalent of $250K.
I'm also inclined to use the 50's-era rates as a starting point, no matter how unreasonable they may be, simply because it allows us to talk towards reasonable. The other side has staked out a far more radical position and argues that any course other than the one they prescribe amounts to the end of life as we know it and the transformation of the nation into the socialist hellhole of their fevered imaginations.
I'm curious, though: how long do you think America has before turning into a 3rd world country if it stays on its present course? Or if a Ryan-type plan were enacted?
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