Tax Cuts, Especially For The Rich, Have No Significant Impact On Economic Growth

I have some news for Republicans and other fellow Americans who believe tax cuts for the rich will help the economy. If you think the rich are “job creators” and that their wealth will trickle down to the rest of us then you took the bait and swallowed it whole. The rich, along with their bought politicians, have you hook, line, and sinker. How much more evidence do you need that tax cuts, especially tax cuts for the rich, do not have any significant impact on economic growth? I don’t care what prominent Republican politicians and right-wing pundits are saying, it is entirely possible they are wrong. It’s also entirely possible they might not have your interests in mind when it comes to tax policy.

Look at the last 11 years since the first “Bush tax cuts” of 2001 (followed by another round of tax cuts during war-time in 2003 — a whole other topic). What do we have to show for these massive (and they are massive) tax cuts? A “lost decade” where most of the wealth created went to the top 1% and median income actually decreased. The average yearly tax cut for the top 1% was five figures. What economic growth resulted from this huge gift to wealthy elites? Oh yeah, we got the worst recession since the great depression.

If what I’ve said so far is unconvincing then how about this: every time we cut taxes for the rich without cutting spending that means we will all be paying for these tax cuts with interest. I know fiscal conservatives will say we should cut spending and then we can have tax cuts that don’t cost us down the road, but this position fails to acknowledge reality. We have a huge deficit to make up before we can even get the point of being able to afford tax cuts. Americans have shown in poll after poll that they are unwilling to accept any measurable cuts to Medicare, Social Security and other programs, and congress has no spine when it comes to meaningful cuts to military spending. Add in the Bush tax cuts and we have just accounted for 90% of the pie (possibly more). Something has to give. Either we all agree we’re fine with screwing poor people and the elderly or we agree that we can no longer afford to keep taxes at historic lows and instead we need to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire at the end of the year and begin paying for the services we demand.

Based on the Left Call Polling results (top right sidebar), it appears many agree we need to start paying for government and stop kicking the can down the road. At the time this article was published, 49 out of 54 think we should let all Bush tax cuts expire.

dks

Government • Tax Fairness