This hasn't been a good week for T-Paw. He's already had his "Google Test" turned into a punchline. Now he's had his "Let's Cut Taxes and Generate a 5% growth" argument cut to shreds, by Chris Wallace on Fox News!
PAWLENTY: We have achieved 5 percent growth twice in the recent history of this country. Once under Reagan, once under Clinton. Now was it sustained for 10 years in those circumstances? [...]
WALLACE: But governor, is it declinist to doubt the 5 percent number or is it just a realist to doubt the 5 percent number? You talk about the fact that for a few years in the 80s and a few years in the 90s that we did have average 5 percent growth – or close to it, it was 4 point something. But the fact is, the difference is, in both of those occasions that was coming directly out of a recession, not after a year, a year into a weak recovery. And actually, in both of those cases, it came after a tax increase, not a tax cut.
PAWLENTY: But Chris, as I said — this is an aspirational goal.
Oh SNAP! Somebody on Fox finally admits the truth - Reagan Raised Taxes and we had a growing economy because of it, just as we did Under Clinton.
It's a Reagan talking point of those on the Right to claim that the only way to address our current problems is to continue cutting taxes for the Richest Americans more and more and more, even though they're already at their lowest level in 60 Years.
But T-Paw would cut them even further.
Pawlenty’s plan would cost $7.8 trillion, or triple the size of the Bush tax cuts, and explode the deficit. Furthermore, his plan’s incredulously assumes 5 percent growth for 10 years in a row while eliminating revenue. As Wallace pointed out, there have only been two times in recent history when the U.S. has achieved 5 percent growth — and they both came after tax increases. Pawlenty seemed stumped by how to respond to this ugly truth about his so-called “pro-growth” plan:
This is what happened to Tax Revenues after Reagan's initial Tax Cuts in 1981 followed by 11 Tax Increases in the succeeding years.
As I pointed out with my snarky diary Oh, That Silly Obama and his "We Have the Lowest Taxes" Stuff... Ha! - tax receipts today are already lower than during Reagan.
This is the same revenue chart zoomed out to all the way back to the era of President Lyndon Johnson when taxes were last lower than the are now.
Listen here as RNC Chair Reince Priebus today tries to dump all of economic woes on Obama's "Spending" claiming "All we need are MORE TAX CUTS" while ignoring the fact that 40% of the Stimulus Were Tax Cuts and if it truly didn't work - then those ineffective cuts are the most likely reason why.
Priebus: This President has been a disaster to this economy. Has this President followed through on his promise to cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term? The answer is "No".
...
I think we need to cut taxes on small businesses.
Wasserman-Schutlz: We've already done that - 17 Times.
Actually if Obama hadn't extended the Bush Tax Cuts in the Lame Duck Deal, he would have already reached the goal of cutting the deficit in half.
The fact is that the fastest way to both get the economy back on track (because higher tax rates cause business owners to invest in their companies in order to qualify for tax deductions, rather than hoard their cash and sittting on it the way the are now) and solve the deficit problem is to Restore the Clinton Era Tax Rates - as the People's Budget does. A plan that would eliminate the deficit by 2021 - a year before the Dangerous Ryan MediStamp Program even starts to Kick In.
Even better, rather than go back to Clinton's top marginal tax rate of 39% - why don't we really return to Reagan values and restore his top marginally tax rate of 50%!!
But I'm sure that idea would give T-Paw and Reince the vapors.
"Merciful Heavens!, I do declare..." Swoon.
Vyan