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Tax Cuts- George W Bush

• Obama, McCain have different plans for Bush's tax cuts

  [Wisconsin State Journal, October 24, 2008] With the economy in turmoil, McCain wants to keep the Bush tax cuts in place for all taxpayers, saying that would help residents in Wisconsin who face relatively high state and local taxes. Obama wants to allow the Bush tax cuts on the rich to expire while keeping those cuts in place for lower- and middle-income taxpayers.

• IT'S TIME TO THINK BIG ON TAX CUTS

  [NCPA, October 8, 2008] Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) should refocus his campaign with a new tax plan, a plan for an alternative, optional flatter tax system that supports a tax system with just two rates, 10 percent and 25 percent, compared to the six rates of the current code, which range from 10 percent to 35 percent, say columnist Jack Kemp, and Peter Ferrara, of the Institute of Policy Innovation.

• The Rich, Soaked

  [American Enterprise Institute, September 9th, 2008]Opponents of President Bush's tax policy often argue that the 2001 tax cuts have unfairly benefited the wealthiest Americans. Yet recent data released by the U.S. Treasury Department demonstrate that this is not the case.

• The Tax Relief Program Worked: Make the Tax Cuts Permanent

  [The Heritage Foundation, June 18, 2008]The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts will expire at the end of 2010 unless Congress acts. Congress should act quickly, making the tax cuts permanent, and then pur­sue additional pro-growth tax policies.

• Robert Mundell: An Economist Who Matters

  [The Wall Street Journal, June 21, 2008] One of the original "supply-side" economists, [Robert Mundell] has long preached the link between tax rates and economic growth. "It's a lethal thing to suddenly raise taxes," he explains. "This would be devastating to the world economy, to the United States, and it would be, I think, political suicide" in a general election.

• Tax Lessons

  [The American Magazine, June 20, 2008] What can we learn from the past several years of federal tax policy?

• The Tax Relief Program Worked: Make the Tax Cuts Permanent

  [The Heritage Foundation, June 18, 2008] Tax relief enacted in recent years has [moved] tax lev­els toward historic norms. It helped end the period of slow growth that persisted into 2003 [and] strengthen the foundation for a strong economy in general and built up resistance to the economic shocks, like the housing bubble and credit crunch, of 2007 and 2008.

• Bush wants tax cuts made permanent

  [FOX News, June 2, 2008] President Bush on Monday campaigned to make his tax cuts permanent, saying that allowing them to expire would be harmful to an already limp economy. The message was perhaps aimed more at voters than lawmakers

• The $3 Trillion Cop-Out

  [Washington Post, February 13, 2008] The only way Bush could balance the budget would be by not following Bush's policies. The most telling figures in his budget involve his proposal to eliminate or dramatically reduce 151 programs, for a savings of $18 billion.

• For Now, Don't Sweat The Deficits

  [Investor's Business Daily, February 4, 2008] The ink isn't even dry, but already the squawking can be heard about President Bush's new five-year budget plan and the "exploding" deficits it contains. As usual, it's much ado about nothing.

• The Stimulus Deficit

  [Wall Street Jounral, February 5, 2008] If you want to know the real cost of Washington's economic stimulus, look no further than yesterday's Fiscal 2009 White House budget. The federal deficit is taking a giant leap backward, thanks in substantial part to the $150 billion in "temporary" tax cuts.

• Rich Man's Burden

  [Investor's Business Daily, January 22, 2008] A study for the National Center for Policy Analysis, shows that the U.S. tax code has grown more progressive after every major tax bill over the last 15 years.

• Bush's Stimulus Flop

  [Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2008]Discretionary policy has had a weak overall effect on output and there is little evidence these effects have provided a significant contribution to economic stabilization.

• Tax Code Became More Progressive After the Bush Tax Cuts

  [NCPA, January 21, 2008] Since the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax reforms, the share of total income received by the wealthy has increased; however, their share of the total tax burden has increased even more than their income share.

• Relief That Works

  [Investor Business Daily, January 17, 2008] Making Bush's cuts permanent, according to economists Tracy Foersch and Ralph Rector, will add $76 billion each year to GDP, create 709,000 jobs and lift personal incomes by $200 billion.

• Tax, Rate Cuts Would Perk Up The Slowdown

  [Investor's Business Daily, January 7, 2007] The money supply hasn't grown in a few years, while inflation is poised to go way down. The Fed must act and act big. After that, elected Washington can do the rest.

• Save The Bush Tax Cuts

  [Wall Street Journal, October 19, 2007] If the Bush tax cuts expire as scheduled at the end of 2010, much of the newly acquired capital made possible by the tax cuts would no longer be sustainable.

• Poverty Drops As Nation's Income Hits Five-Year High

  [USA Today, August 29, 2007] The nation's median household income rose to $48,200 and the poverty rate fell to 12.3 percent in 2006, the first time this decade that both improved.

• How to Raise Revenue

  [Wall Street Journal, August 24, 2007] It is almost an article of faith on Capitol Hill these days that the Bush tax cuts tilted the income tax system in favor of the rich. In reality, this is not true.

• Time to Cut Corporate Tax Rates

  [Investor's Business Daily, August 9, 2007] The Democrat-controlled Congress wants to undo the Bush tax cuts, but the president is talking about more cuts to maintain this robust economy; another signal the White House is regaining its footing.

• Coming Tax Hike

  [National Review, July 30, 2007] Republican tax relief packages in 2001 and 2003 resulted in a booming economy, proving that when government gets out of the way, the American people will get to work, says Senator Jon Kyl.

• Deficit Deceptions

  [Investor's Business Daily, June 18, 2007] Criticism of President Bush by politicians of all stripes and media of all types for failing to rein in federal spending and letting deficits "soar" is based largely on misconceptions.

• The Real Tax Story Buried

  [Investors' Business Daily, June 14, 2007] One of the assertions made about the U.S. economy is that President Bush's tax cuts didn't do what he promised. But the data clearly show nothing could be farther from the truth.

• Tax and Spend Democrats

  [National Review, May 23, 2007] Democrats have passed a budget resolution that would allow most of the Bush tax cuts to expire at the end of 2010, but allowing this to happen would constitute the largest tax increase in American history.

• Big Government: It Isn't Just For Liberals Anymore

  [Cato Institute, February 16, 2007] Since his election, Bush has presided over the largest expansion of government spending since Lyndon Johnson initiated the Great Society.

• Bush's Real Record on the Economy

  [Investor's Business Daily, May 4, 2007] Polls show that many people think the economy has fallen into a recession, or that we never left the slump of 2001, but Bush did exactly the right thing to revive the economy by pushing through his tax cuts. About 69 percent of Americans now own their homes, an all-time high. The jobless rate, now at 4.4 percent, remains below its 40-year average. Since August 2003, 7.8 million new jobs have been created. Tax receipts have surged 43 percent, or $757.6 billion, again thanks to economic growth. Today, some signs point to slowing. All the more reason to keep Bush's tax cuts, the engine of our prosperity, says IBD. But the new Democrat-led Congress has threatened not just to roll back Bush's cuts, but to impose new taxes that would sink the economy.

• Booming for Bush

  [Investor's Business Daily, April 10, 2007] Given the economic conditions each inherited, President Bush's economy has prospered more than President Clinton's.

• Debunking Myths about the Bush Tax Cuts

  [Heritage Foundation, January 29, 2007] Despite surging economic growth and 5 million new jobs since 2003, critics of the Bush tax cuts charge that they have not helped the economy and have widened inequality. In reality, nearly all of the conventional wisdom about the Bush tax cuts is wrong.

• The Secret Recipe for High Taxes

  [Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2007] The new paygo rule is a direct threat to the extension of the Bush tax cuts -- or the enactment of any other tax cut in the future. If Congress fails to extend the tax rate caps, investment would take a hit.

• President Bush's Real Record

  [Investor's Business Daily, January 31, 2007] In his most recent "State of the Economy" speech, President Bush expressed justifiable pride in his economic accomplishments; however, others are calling it "the greatest story never told."

• Bush's Call For Fiscal Restraint: Entitlement Control is the Key

  [Heritage Foundation, January 5, 2007] President George Bush’s call for a balanced budget and earmark reform is a welcome commitment to fiscal restraint in Washington. It echoes recent commitments from leaders in Congress to tackle the long-term budget problem.

• Dynamic Analysis at Treasury: What Are the Next Steps?

  [Heritage Foundation, December 7, 2006] The President's fiscal year (FY) 2007 budget sub­mission to Congress includes a plan to create a Dynamic Analysis Division within the Office of Tax Analysis (OTA). This division would gauge the impact on federal tax revenues of the changes in output and incomes induced by changes in tax policy.

• A Dynamic Analysis of the 2001 and 2003 Bush Tax Cuts

  [Heritage Foundation, November 22, 2006] For 2007, the President's budget includes a number of proposals to extend expiring tax provisions, such as the lower marginal rates on ordinary in­come and the preferential rates on individual net capital gains realizations and dividend income.

• The 2006 Budget Numbers Show Impact of Pro-Growth Tax Policy, But Also Continued Spending Increases

  [Heritage Foundation, October 13, 2006] The FY2006 budget numbers are mixed signs of good fiscal policy. The huge revenue gains of 11.8 percent on the tax side of the ledger show the pro-growth impact of lower tax rates. The spending side of the ledger disappoints as spending jumped by 7.4 percent.

• Guns, Butter and Tax Code Reform

  [Townhall, December 19, 2006] Everyone who makes the claim that Bush cut taxes in the face of a war should take note: Bush didn't cut taxes, he cut tax rates, says Jack Kemp in Townhall.com

• Rubin's Tax Gambit

  [Wall Street Journal, November 14, 2006] A mere two days after Democrats capture Congress claiming they wouldn't raise taxes, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin tells them they should do so anyway.

• Pelosinomics

  [Investor's Business Daily, October 6, 2006] House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi promises to "jump-start our economy and reform our economic policy," but that's exactly what President Bush did in 2003 with his tax cuts.

• Conspicuous Consumption

  [AEI, September 25, 2006] When George W. Bush took office in January 2001, the economy was producing roughly $10 trillion worth of output annually. This year, it looks like production will be in the neighborhood of $13.5 trillion. So are we better off today than we were in 2001?

• Tax Cuts Strengthen; Excessive Government Spending Threatens Long-Run

  [Heritage, September 28, 2006] The American economy is strong. Per capita eco­nomic output is at record levels, the unemployment rate is low, and national wealth is climbing. Indeed, the U.S. economy is the envy of the developed world.

• IRS Data Reveal Which States Benefited Most from 2001 and 2003 Tax Cuts

  [Tax Foundation, October 4, 2006] Across the nation, nearly every income group in every state has had its federal income taxes cut in recent years.

• Curing the Debt Addiction

  [New York Times, October 2, 2006] To reduce excessive foreign borrowing, Treasury secretary, Henry Paulson Jr. has pledged to help the Bush administration find ways to curb Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

• Income Tax Cuts Benefit All Payers

  [USA Today/Tax Foundation, October 2, 2006] Americans of every income have benefited from a drop in federal income tax rates as Bush administration tax cuts enacted since 2000 took effect, an independent analysis of newly released IRS data shows.

• Tax Policy Under President Bush

  [Cato Institute, August 15, 2006] Tax cutting has been a key policy of the administration of George Bush since coming to power in 2001. Under President Bill Clinton in the 1990s, only one modest tax cut bill was signed into law.

• Bush Tax Cuts: Rhetoric and Reality

  [Heartland Institute, August 2006] Critics claim that President Bush's tax cuts charge the wealthy have disproportionately benefitted, the federal government is floating in red ink, and the cuts were just a hodgepodge of initiatives that made the tax code more complex

• Remember the Bush Tax Cuts This Labor Day

  [Heritage Foundation, September 1, 2006] President Bush was right. American workers do know better than the government how to spend their money.

• Democratization of Debt

  [Washington Post, August 23, 2006] No society can forever raise its borrowing faster than its income; sooner or later debt burdens become oppressive.

• Soak the Poor

  [Investor's Business Daily, August 31, 2006] The Treasury Department recently issued a news release showing that the very people opponents of the Bush tax cuts purport to be so concerned about will see their tax bills go up if the tax cuts are not made permanent, says Investor's Business Daily (IBD).

• Keep the Economy Growing

  [Dallas Morning News, August 14, 2006] According to Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, President Bush's tax cuts have cut income tax rates across the board, expanded the size of the lowest tax bracket, reduced the marriage penalty and increased the child tax credit.

• What Is Really Happening to Government Revenues

  [Heritage Foundation, July 29, 2006] While it is widely understood that spending on retirement programs will increase as the baby boomers retire, it is also commonly believed that the Bush tax cuts mean falling revenues in the future. But nothing could be further from the truth.

• Dynamic Analysis

  [U.S. Department of the Treasury/Wall Street Journal, July 26, 2006] Does tax relief mean more economic growth? Many people believe the answer is yes, and now they get strong support from the staff of the U.S. Treasury.

• Rising Tide

  [Opinion Journal, July 25, 2006] When tax rates go down, economic activity goes up, says Pete du Pont, chairman of the National Center for Policy Analysis.

• Bush Turns More Into Less: The Tax-Driven Deficit Reduction

  [AEI, July 18, 2006] Unfortunately, the deficit reduction cannot be attributed to any spending cuts by the president...or even a modicum of spending restraint, says Veronique de Rugy of AEI.

• Cost Estimates of H.R. 4297: Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act

  [Congressional Budget Office, June 2, 2006] CBO estimates that H.R. 4297 wil have no effect on federal spending.

• A Victory for Taxpayers and the Economy

  [Heritage Foundation, May 17, 2006] H.R. 4297’s capital gains and dividend provisions are a step in the right direction because they will help spur economic activity.

• Benefits of the Bush Dividend Tax Cut

  [NCPA Brief Analysis #483, August 27, 2004] Dividend tax relief was exactly what this country needed to pull itself out of the recession. The positive effects of the Bush tax cuts are just beginning to be seen.

• March Employment Growth Shows that Congress Should Finish Its April Tax Bil

  [Heritage Foundation, April 7, 2006] The benefits of the Bush tax cuts are apparent in US tax returns, and millions of Americans owe their current jobs in part to the pro-growth tax policy changes of 2003.

• The Next 25 Years

  [Wall Street Journal, February 23, 2006] Pete du Pont, Chairman of the National Center for Policy Analysis says economic growth over the last 45 years has been spurred by the tax cuts of Presidents Kennedy, Reagan and W. Bush

• The Candidates’ Tax Plans: Comparing the Economic and Fiscal Effects

  [Heritage Foundation, September 20, 2004] An examination of the Bush tax plans and what they mean for the economy. Published during Campaign 2004.

• Bush’s Tax Proposal: A Principled Step in the Right Direction

  [Heritage Foundation, September 3, 2004] President George W. Bush has called for tax reform and a “simpler, fairer, pro-growth system.” These are good goals and should be the foundation for any reform of the tax code.

• Bush The Better Economic Steward

  [American Enterprise Institute, August 19, 2004] The economy of 2004 and the strong economy of 1996 that President Clinton ran on in seeking a second term show remarkable similarities.

• The Miracle Economy

  [American Enterprise Institute, August 30, 2004] On the eve of his nomination at the Republican convention in New York, Bush can be proud of the U.S. economy and what he's done to keep it growing.

• The U.S. Economy Is Surging--Tax Cuts Are the Reason

  [Committe on Ways and Means, July 2004]The latest Economy and Jobs update from the House Committee on Ways and Means reports that the 2003 tax cuts are still having positive effects on the economy.

• The 2003 Tax Cuts and the Economy: A One-Year Assessment

  [Heritage Foundation, July 21, 2004] A new study from Heritage looks at how the 2003 Bush tax cuts affected employment, personal income, and business investment.

• When Would the President’s Tax Cuts Expire?

  [Heritage Foundation, April 21, 2004] The uncertainty of their future has an effect on present-day spending by businesses and individuals, who know that they may have to pay higher taxes in the future.

• Taxing Consumption

  [NCPA, February 12, 2004] The White House advocates Consumption Taxation, an idea that has been around for 500 years, says Bruce Bartlett.