Why is "truthsay" so wrong?

Question

I said every single president since atleast FDR could have said inflation adjusted tax revenues are the highest they have ever been, that person was president. I never said tax revenues always rise.

In fact, the biggest one year drops were under Reagan and Bush Jr with their huge tax cuts. Plot tax revenues versus time to see for yourselves.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2007/sheets/hist01z3.xls

You will also notice tax revenues never declined under Bush Sr. He was probably quoting some Rush Limbaugh make believe stat.

When you take the percent change in real GDP and inflation adjusted tax revenues from when the president took power until he stepped out, you will indeed find that DEMS RULE!

FDR, JFK/LBJ, and Clinton all easily outperform tax cuts for the rich Reagan and Bush Jr.

http://www.bea.gov/national/xls/gdplev.xls

corgryp,

The guy called me an idiot in his response to my question. I'm simply pointing out he is wrong and misinformed.

Johnny,

You are mistaken. You say regardless of Dem versus Rep, those with lower tax rates get higher growth. WRONG. Those who increased social spending on education, job training, etc, did better then those who cut taxes and social programs.

FDR, JFK, LBJ, and to a lesser extent Clinton were not known for cutting taxes but they experienced greater growth then Reagan and Bush Jr. No. What they were known for were their social programs. FDR with his New deal. JFK with his New Frontier, and LBJ with his Great Society.

For the record, JFK never passed a tax cut. It was LBJ and if you plot tax revenues versus time, you will see the tax cut was practically nonexistent. Tax revenues took huge 1/2 year dives under Reagan and Bush Jr because their tax cuts really were big.

Answer 1

Your "study" ignores which party held Congress during those administrations.

Even so, I try not to think of things in terms of Democrat and Republican. Fiscally, I think it is more accurate to consider policies as Conservative and Liberal.

Regardless of party affiliation, Conservative tax policies(ie lower rates) have yielded higher tax revenues and higher GDP growth historically. Even your cherry picked data will show you that.

I believe that Truthsayer's main point is that lower tax rates have historically led to higher revenues and faster economic growth.

Instead of focusing on Republican versus Democrat, why not debate which of the current candidates is most likely to adhere to policies that have proven successful historically. Based on current sound bytes, at least two of the main candidates are preaching class warfare and more income redistribution. I wonder which two......?

Edit: You are ignoring lag effects. And you may think you are right, but just so you know, a majority of economists would disagree with many of your points. The point here is simple, raising taxes often leads to less tax collections. And lowering them often leads to more. *And not immedaitely. You point to the 1/2 year drops, but that is too short of a time period for people to respond to tax cuts by changing their earning and saving behaviors (ie lag effect)

Answer 2

Attacking individuals doesn't do anything except make you look bad. If someone says something you disagree with, debate the point.

Don't attack the person.