Politics

The Bush Tax Cut Issue in One Chart

Federal receipts and outlays, 1999 to 2012

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Federal outlays and receipts in the last two years of the Clinton Administration, all eight years of George W. Bush and Barack Obama's first term:

you can soak the rich but you can't ignore math
Reason.com

In 2011, income tax revenue made up about 55 percent of federal receipts. Raw data here and here

A few notes: George W. Bush and supporters of the tax cut said federal revenue would go up after passing the cuts and it appears it did. In fact, federal receipts reached Clinton-era levels without Clinton-era tax rates in 2006, not long after all the cuts went into effect (passed in 2001 and 2003, they were tweaked with in 2005). Bush passed a tax cut as stimulus in 2008 and Barack Obama's trillion dollar stimulus package in 2009 included some type of tax cuts as well, but does that chart look like a revenue problem or a spending problem?

And for those who would say "well of course the government has to spend more when the economy is hurting" only one question applies: has it helped? If you think so, I've got a tiger-repellant rock to sell you.