Wall Street Journal Opinion Page May 22-23, 2010
by: Geoff Ficke
Frank Schuchat’s letter of May 18 excoriating Martin Feldstein’s gymnastic ability for supporting the George W. Bush tax cuts and decrying budget deficits shows a lack of understanding of basic economics.
According to OMB, Federal revenues in 2000 were 1.99 billion dollars. In 2008, after several years of the horrid, fully employed Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, Federal revenues hit a record 2.57 Billion dollars, a record. Economics 101: If you want more of an outcome (revenue in this case) penalize it (tax) less. Over and over tax cuts have been utilized to stimulate productive activities which benefit the economy and thus stimulate government revenues.
President Bush erred in not clamping down on a rapacious, wreckless Congress and putting the brakes on their spending. It is a lesson that our current President has not only not learned, but has worked mercilessly to exceed.
