Damn it WTF... You're smart. You've got lots of brains. Please use them.
First, the reason the deficits disappeared in the late 90's was because Clinton and a Republican Congress increased spending at a lower rate than GDP growth.
Second, they didn't raise taxes in the late 90's. They cut them. The capital gains tax rate and tariffs went down. And what happened? Tax collected from the capital gains tax went up, from 66 billion in 1996 to 127 billion in 2000.
President Biden, and I believe you as well, want to increase the rate on long term capital gains and dividends to 43.4%. As we've discussed here and elsewhere, the Congressional Budget Office, Joint Committee on Taxation, Tax Foundation, and Wharton Budget Modeling agree that would REDUCE the revenues collected by the government, compared to a lower rate. You raise the capital gains tax rate too high and people don't realize capital gains. They don't sell. This also would cause investors and businesses to allocate capital inefficiently. Why sell the buggy whip company and invest in automobiles if the government's going to take 43.4% of your gain if you live in Texas, or 56.7% in California?
The same principle applies to dividends. Raise the tax too high and corporations won't be as inclined to pay dividends. Instead of using an appropriate amount of free cash flow to reinvest in the business, and returning the rest to investors to allocate to more dynamic businesses, they hang onto more of it. Or all of it.
As to the other tax I addressed in my post, the corporate income tax, I've posted on why it was too high, how it made some companies in the U.S. less competitive, and why lowering it played a part in boosting employment and wages. You however, regardless of the evidence that's presented, won't be swayed, so there's no use continuing to argue.
And what exactly was that 8 trillion you mentioned spent on? How much of it was flushed down the toilet? I didn't see any of it. I'll happily pay higher taxes if asked by the State of Texas or my local government. They're at least halfway efficient, and I can see value for my tax dollars -- highways, city services and the like. The power of the purse should be closest to the people. The politicians and bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., take our money and squander a big part of it.
At this point in time, the reduction in cumulative tax collection as a result of the Republican tax cuts in 2017 isn't much more than $1 trillion, if even that. You keep insisting on blaming all the incremental debt from COVID relief, and whatever stupid crap the politicians decide to fund, on the tax cuts.
I'd a lot rather see the money stay in the private sector, invested in businesses and the like, instead of drained off by the Feds in the form of higher taxes.
They need to cut the spending.
Originally Posted by Tiny
Bravo, tiny! Bravo, tiny!
A "smart person with brains" wouldn't stubbornly cling to stupid arguments in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence.
As you noted, the (revenue-reduction) cost of the 2017 tax cuts was estimated at $1 trillion by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. What you failed to add is - that's a
cumulative estimate over 10 years. Which means the annual cost is roughly $100 billion. That's small and insignificant by almost any comparison. In 2018, our GDP was $20.6 trillion and federal spending was $4.1 trillion. So the cost of the tax cut would have been equivalent to 0.5% of GDP or 2.4% of the federal budget.
Since the pandemic began two years ago, Congress has approved a whopping $5.7 trillion in "emergency" relief. Keep in mind this is IN ADDITION TO the regular federal budget of $4.5-$5.0 trillion a year. And you're totally correct when you say it looks like much of the so-called "relief" money has been pissed away on waste, fraud, corruption and abuse. Like bailing out blue states for decades of fiscal profligacy. Or setting up slush funds for favored dim-retard constituencies like the teachers union. When dim-retards say "never let a serious crisis go to waste" what they really mean is never let a serious crisis go by without opening the floodgates to a gusher of WASTE!
Anyway, I digress. The point is we've shoveled out nearly $2.9 trillion a year in
EXTRA spending since the pandemic started. That's been added directly to the national debt. It doesn't take a math genius to see this is
29 TIMES as much as the "cost" of the 2017 tax cuts. For WTF to suggest the tax cut blew up the deficit is like my blaming air pollution on his farting.