Congress Is Raising Our Taxes by $200 Billion – Does Anyone Care?

2010 Tax Hikes: A Ticking Time Bomb
(Center for Individual Freedom)

An economic time bomb is ticking, but the 2008 presidential candidates and media pundits are paying shamefully little attention.

Last week, both the Senate and House of Representatives approved the majority Democrats' budget proposal, which contains over $200 billion in tax hikes, the largest in American history. Under their budget, this decade's astoundingly successful tax cuts will be allowed to expire in 2010, at which time rates will surge to recession-era levels as Congress stands by and watches.

The present tax rates did nothing less than resuscitate the American economy from the Clinton/Gore recession of 2000 - 2001, which was exacerbated by the effects of 9/11 and Sarbanes-Oxley burdens imposed in 2002. Since the current tax rates were set in 2003, federal revenues have actually increased nearly $700 billion, the American economy has created over 7 million jobs, the unemployment rate has fallen to a historically tiny 4.5% (approximately half the current European unemployment rate), workers' wages have increased, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has surpassed its tech-bubble peak and the deficit has decreased by $300 billion despite increased federal spending.

In fact, April's tax receipts were $70 billion higher than April 2006, and April 24 of this year set a record $48.7 billion tax collections in one day.

This constitutes an indisputable record of supply-side economic success. It also demonstrates once again the simple fact that decreasing tax rates paradoxically increases federal revenues by spurring greater economic growth. Read on.