I'm sorry that it isn't pretty and colorful, but it certainly is informative!
It depicts the strong inverse correlation between the top capital gains tax rate and taxable realizations:

Just to make sure we are back on topic like some of you Ronnie apologist requested.
In most years, according to the extremely pro-Reagan site, Congress increased Reagan's budgets. On top of that, this extra debt accrued interest. All told Congress's share of the increase totaled $0.29 trillion—but that's far less than the $1.60tn increase under Reagan.
The green line in the graph shows what would have happened if Reagan had proposed budgets that let the debt increase in step growing with inflation and the economy—if he had kept it at a constant fraction of GDP. That's not much to ask of a guy who said he'd do far better than before him, since every previous post-war president had actually reduced the debt as a fraction of GDP. The slight upward slope of the green line is due to the Congressional budget increases Originally Posted by WTF
When will you boys do the first step and admit Ronnie's problem? Originally Posted by WTF
Where Reagan failed was in allowing government growth and spending to continue unabated. Like every other modern president (except for Bill Clinton) he failed to halt this inexorable expansion. Originally Posted by CaptainMidnightSee what I mean? You pay no attention at all. No wonder someone posted that you seem not to be able to intelligently participate in a discussion. (I was not the one who said that, but I certainly agree!)
Pray do tell where the author went wrong? Originally Posted by WTFThe author is wrong about almost everything. Just take a look at that stuff you cut & pasted in post #80. One sentence starts out with, "The economic stimulus of that debt..." The guy apparently thinks that running up massive debt is wonderful "stimulus" for the economy. Try telling that to the Greeks or the Japanese.
Just as I thought, Shoot the messanger. [sic] Originally Posted by WTFWell, if you would refrain from posting links to stuff written by people who have no understanding of what they're talking about, you would be able to defend the messenger!
I"m not going to comment on all the back and forth, but fixing the problem of the gross underpayment by the top few income earners is easy. Tax capital gains and regular income rates once your gains get above a certain number, say $5k or $10k. And make income on muni bonds taxable after say the first $25k.many things have unintended consequences. taxing muni bond income will raise interest rates on state and municipal obligations thus either limiting services, which tend to impact the lower income strata, or causing state and local taxes to rise, impacting again the lower strata from regressive taxes WTF frequently rails against.
This isn't politically palatable because it will hit major party donors. But it would solve the problem. Originally Posted by TexTushHog