Good article on Republican fiscal irreality

[IndianaJoe]

<http://www.tnr.com/blog/jonathan-chait/the-gops-secret-speech>

The New Republic
Jonathan Chaitt

"In the Republican view, tax cuts do not increase deficits, because they either: 1) produce enough growth to increase revenue, or 2) reduce revenue and thus "starve the beast" of spending, or, somehow, both. A corollary holds that tax hikes do not reduce deficits, because they either 3) decrease economic growth and thus decrease revenue, or because 4) the added revenue will cause the government to spend more money."

"All four elements of the Republican tax catechism have been utterly destroyed by empirical reality. It may be theoretically possible for tax rates to be high enough that tax cuts could produce higher revenue, but we're nowhere close to that point. Nor is there any evidence that a lack of revenue will cause the government to stop spending money. (Look around.) Indeed, evidence points in the opposite direction, with rising revenues correlating with falling expenditures, and falling revenues with rising expenditures."

[Xipe Totec]

1. I'm glad you used the word catechism,

Since six of the nine Supreme Court Justices are Catholic.

Think about the implications...

[IndianaJoe]

2. Not my word, the article's author. But I can't say I'm bothered

by it.

[Xipe Totec]

3. I am. Deeply bothered

Bothered and embarrassed that this end run on the constitution and a woman's right to choose almost succeeded, and they used Catholics as battering rams to do so.

As a recovering Catholic, I deeply resent it.

[IndianaJoe]

4. I'm confused. Which end run do you mean?

The author of the article is talking about taxation and spending policies, not the Supreme Court.

[whyverne]

5. I just heard another conservative repeating that old saw.

"Don't you see, when you cut taxes you actually collect more in taxes."
Really? Where and when? If that were true, why wouldn't everybody do it? I guess Democrats won't do it just to be mean. They don't want to collect more in taxes.
God they drive me crazy.

[IndianaJoe]

6. Right. We've been hearing it since Reagan's "Laffer Curve" n/t

[applegrove]

7. But when will this reality actually sink in in the minds of GOPers?

[HooptieWagon]

8. IF the republicans were correct...

wouldn't the most tax revenue come from having no taxes at all? :crazy: :wtf:

[Elwood P Dowd]

9. With no taxes at all, the riches would trickle down and we would all become millionaires.

It's just simple Republican Trickle Down 101 Economics.

:crazy:

[Scurrilous]

10. K & R

:thumbsup: