Your Economy (No Politics)

[al44]

With Trump’s tax cuts set to expire, media runs offense for Joe Biden

By Jack Hellner

Maybe someday people posing as journalists will figure out that facts are important, not projections or predictions, whether it is about tax rate cuts, the climate, or anything else.

The WSJ ran a recent article titled, “Biden Tax Plan’s Twin Challenges: Keeping his $400,000 Pledge and Paying for It”, and instead of reporting facts, author Richard Rubin focused on projections; here is one line, talking about President Trump’s 2017 tax reform laws: “When enacted the [Trump] tax law was estimated to cost $1.5 trillion over a decade. A recent study found it boosted growth but didn't pay for itself.”

Somehow, the author decided not to report the facts so let’s look at the actual receipts since the law was passed. For the 2017 Fiscal Year, individual tax revenues yielded $1.6 trillion; see the table below for subsequent years, and the differences:

Hellner made this

So in the first six years, individual tax revenues are up $2.2 trillion over the rate collected before the law was passed.

Now, let’s look at corporate tax revenues through the same lens:

Hellner made this

In the first six years after the law was passed, the government collected $174 billion more in corporate taxes.

So, in total, roughly $2.4 trillion more in additional taxes were collected post Trump’s tax rate cuts. And by the end of the decade, it appears that at least $3 trillion in additional revenues will be collected.

So how can anyone look at this data and make a definitive statement that the rate cuts didn’t pay for themselves? They can’t!

Joe Biden and others continue to lie that the tax rate cuts cost the government trillions; Rubin further states this: “Extending all expiring tax cuts would reduce federal revenue by about $4 trillion over a decade.”

How does anyone make a statement like that when revenues are rising with the current rates? Rising revenues don’t cause deficits—spending too much does.

Why would anyone propose raising rates when the lower rates increased revenues and growth? Here is a factual prediction: If the government confiscates more money for themselves from individuals and corporations, there will be less money to save, spend, and invest in the private sector. Growth will clearly be lower than it otherwise would be with a higher rate. This is especially problematic when individuals are having so much trouble paying bills now.

If people want to see government programs that the CBO projected would “pay for” themselves, but didn’t, then they should look no further than the falsely named Affordable Care Act; the CBO pretended that student loan income would pay for it. Here’s this, from FEE:

The federal government largely nationalized the student loan industry in 2010 via a piece of legislation related to Obamacare, the “Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010.” The US government now holds 92 percent of all student loans — and the nation’s total student debt has more than doubled, from $811 billion in April 2010 to $1.748 trillion in April 2022.

One could also look at the falsely named Inflation Reduction Act; costs have already skyrocketed because of all the green subsidies, and it hasn’t even been a full two years!

The CBO has routinely underestimated revenue growth from tax rate cuts, and routinely underestimated the cost of spending programs. How can these supposed experts be so consistently wrong? Well, because the CBO clearly understands who butters their bread. As members of the deep state bureaucracy, the average salary at the CBO was over $152,000 in 2024, not including the generous benefits taxpayers provide. Wouldn’t most people love to make this much and retire with generous pensions and health care?

Maybe someday people posing as journalists will figure out that facts are important, not projections or predictions, whether it is about tax rate cuts, the climate, or anything else.

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/05/with_trump_s_tax_cuts_set_to_expire_media_runs_offense_for_joe_biden.html