I have some relatives in Arizona, long-time rabid John McCain fans, who sometimes include me in their email chains. The last compared the taxes various individuals might pay, under Clinton and under Bush II; the point seemed to be that no one should vote Democratic, lest those policies not be continued.
I decided to try showing the bigger picture; what have the supply-side economic policies of the Bushes and Reagan, which McCain would continue, done to the US economy as a whole? I collected information, all ultimately from government figures, which graphically (Warning! IMAGES!) make that impact stunningly obvious, and I included links to my sources for further information.
This process had several good results for me. It gave me the satisfaction of proving out my belief that supply-side economics is nothing but collective cover for corporate kleptomaniacs (ahem!), it gave me links I can point inquiring people at, it pissed off my wingnut relatives to where they'll exclude me from their mass emailings, and it provided me with a blog entry (http://quarkscrew.wordpress.com <\blogwhore>) and my first DailyKos diary! ;)
This is the email I received. If anyone does want to Fisk it I'd love to see it done!
So let’s see if the Bush tax cuts only helped the rich:
Taxes Under Clinton Taxes Under Bush
Single 30K - $8400 Single 30K - $4500
Single 50K - $14,000 Single 50K - $12,000
Single 75K - $23,250 Single 75K - $18,750
Married 60K - $16,800 Married 60K - $9,000
Married 75K - $21,000 Married 75K - $18,750
Married 125K - $38,750 Married 125K - $31,250
It is amazing how many people that fall into the categories above think Bush is screwing them and Bill Clinton was a great President. That shows how effective the mainstream media has been in influencing our thinking. If any Democrat is elected ALL of them say they will repeal the Bush tax cuts and a good portion of the people that fall into the above categories can’t wait for it to happen.
This is like the movie "The Sting" with Paul Newman; you scam somebody out of their money and they don’t even know what happened.
This was my reply:
So I got 14% more in my tax return? Wow, it almost seems like there’d be, you know, some kind of catch! Something like, oh,
1. The largest budget in US history?
2. The largest budget deficit in US history?
3. The largest discretionary spending in US history?
4. The largest national debt in US history?
5. The largest growth in federal government in US history?
6. The largest growth in state and local government in US history?
7. The largest decline in manufacturing jobs in US history?
http://www.nytimes.com/...
http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/...
Man, George W. Bush just doesn’t get enough credit! If only there were some graphical way to compare his economic genius to that of other Presidents...
Economic Performance Index
Clinton v. Bush II
http://www.ppionline.org/...
Wait, I thought we were better off! What was that bit about poverty?
Poverty In US
Poverty rates in the United States, 1989-2006
Source: US Census Bureau
http://hanlonsrazor.wordpress.com/...
Oh. But isn’t George W. Bush the new standard-bearer for a proud tradition of fiscal responsibility?
New Debt from 1980
http://www.marktaw.com/...
Dang, what did all that new debt, constantly being compounded, do to our overall balance sheet?
US National Debt Accounting For Percentage OF GDP
http://www.cedarcomm.com/...
http://economistsview.typepad.com/...
Gee, that’s a little busy... can you clean it up a little?
US National Debt by Percentage of GDP By President
http://zfacts.com/...
Uh, thanks, I think. Say, forget percentage of dumb ol’ GDP, what did the raw numbers look like?
Gross US Deficit Under Clinton and Bush II
http://zfacts.com/...
Well... that’s all a little depressing, when you look at the big picture. Too much reality, all at once...
But hey, I’m one of the ones who still has a decent job, and I saved a bunch on my (federal) taxes!
PARTY TIME!!!! WOO-HOO!!!! LET"S ORDER CHINESE!!!!
Aw, nuts....
US Trade Deficit Over Time
http://www.globalpolicy.org/...
To quote somebody or other,
This is like the movie "The Sting" with Paul Newman; you scam
somebody out of their money and they don’t even know what happened.
Yes, it is... except we should substitute "country" for "money" maybe.