This has been posted before, but freepers need constant reminders. I pull this up everytime one gives me his talking points about deficits, trickle down, etc.. This is the top 8 bogus conservative ideas. Some good ammo here.
http://www.conceptualguerilla.com/showthread.php?id=71 Catalogue of Bogus Conservative Ideas
Ann Coulter tells us that if liberals had any ideas or knew any facts they would stop being liberals. In fact, conservative ideas have been put to the test lately. They haven't held up very well. Here is a short list of bogus conservative ideas. As I worked through these, I realized that they flow one into the other. It makes for a nice orderly destruction of the entire conservative ideology.
Bogus Conservative Idea #1.Cutting taxes stimulates the economy and leads to increased revenue. A corollary of this is that higher taxes strangle economic growth.
Of course, we now have two distinct examples of tax cuts that directly led to deficits. The conservatives say that those deficits were caused by a failure to reduce spending. But that contradicts the theory of "voodoo economics". Economic stimulation is supposed to drive up revenues and pay for the tax cuts. Hasn't happened yet.
Then there is the experience following Clinton's deficit reduction act. You will recall that act contained the "largest tax increase in history". The result was a dramatic increase in revenue – far more pronounced than the eventual increases in revenue under Reagan, that basically tracked increases in GDP. The conservatives say that economic growth drove up those revenues, but again this undercuts voodoo economics. Clinton raised tax rates on the top, and the economy boomed anyway.
"Voodoo economics" is dead as a hammer. Even conservatives are now reduced to arguing, "well, deficits aren't so bad".
And of course, the "facts" that justify the liberal interpretation are found at a conservative web site. Perhaps you've heard of it. It's called the "
http://www.heritage.org>Heritage Foundation
<more-check out the other 7>