Originally Posted By mawnck Once again, my dear conservatives, you aren't entitled to your own facts! >>it's obvious that there is no correlation between higher marginal tax rates and slowing economic activity. During the period 1951-63, when marginal rates were at their peak—91 percent or 92 percent—the American economy boomed, growing at an average annual rate of 3.71 percent. The fact that the marginal rates were what would today be viewed as essentially confiscatory did not cause economic cataclysm—just the opposite. And during the past seven years, during which we reduced the top marginal rate to 35 percent, average growth was a more meager 1.71 percent.<< The author (it's Eliot Spitzer) also points out: >>Leaders of a century ago invoked justice in remarkable language that is unimaginable today. President Woodrow Wilson called paying taxes "a glorious privilege." Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. observed that "taxes are what we pay for civilized society." In 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt said, "In this time of grave national danger, when all excess income should go to win the war; no American citizen ought to have a net income, after he has paid his taxes, of more than $25,000." That $25,000 is the equivalent of $323,208 in today's dollars. Can you conceive of a modern president suggesting that no American should earn more than $323,000 after taxes? (President George W. Bush went to war twice without once calling for such a common sacrifice to pay for it.) And President Harry Truman in 1948 vetoed a broad-based tax cut, even in the face of an expected and eventual congressional override, and then asked for a tax increase following his upset victory. But President Ronald Reagan transformed our conversation about government and turned taxes into the enemy of progress.<< <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2245781/" target="_blank">http://www.slate.com/id/2245781/</a>
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>>But President Ronald Reagan transformed our conversation about government and turned taxes into the enemy of progress.<<< That senile old fool did so much harm not only to the US, but the world. Between him and W, it's no wonder I HATE the GOP.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf C'mon Dave, that's a bit harsh isn't it? Reagan did some good things - not the least of which was working well with the Democrats. Democrats villifying the right and Republicans demonizing the left is what is hurting us right now, not Reagan's policies. But I do agree with the argument in the article that if you're going to fight a war you need to ask the people to do for it. Imagine what would've happened if Bush had said "We are going to invade Iraq and it's going to cause us to increase federal income taxes by 15%" I'm guessing that would've been a needed dose of cold water on a bunch of hot heads.
Originally Posted By ecdc I'd argue that the whole story of Eliot Spitzer is why we're a country doomed to mediocrity - at least for the foreseeable future. This guy was a great Wall Street watchdog. We were lucky to have him as a public servant. But because he paid someone who wasn't his wife for sex, we forced him out of public office. Only in America. I'm not saying I love his personal choices, but it certainly goes to what our priorities are.
