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May 01, 2003
Tax Cuts Kill Jobs
Okay, a bit too simple but with rightwingers going around talking about "job killing taxes", a bit of sound bite return fire is needed. And the idea that tax cuts kill jobs at least has recent evidence behind it. As Slate noted in a recent article:
In the 16 months after the passage of the 1993 Clinton budget plan, which raised marginal income tax rates on the highest earners, payrolls rose from 110.96 million to 115.92 million. In other words, the biggest tax increase in American history "created" nearly 5 million jobs in less than a year and a half. In the 22 months since President Bush signed his tax cuts in June 2001, the number of payroll jobs has fallen from 132.11 million to 130.41 million in March 2003. In other words, the biggest tax cut in American history has so far "cost" us 1.7 million jobs and counting.And of course, Clinton's tax cuts slashed the deficit, while Bush's job-killing tax cuts are going to saddle our kids with trillions of dollars in new debt. So they are the tax cuts that just keep on giving pain and lost income for decades to come.
Posted by Nathan at May 1, 2003 10:56 AM
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Comments
I love the drollery here. Is it possible that, in each case, other, more powerful forces were at work? Clinton's tax hike came at the start of an economic recovery; the Bush tax cut came at the just after a recession started.
I mean, I would love to see a serious discussion of this, but this Slate piece simply links facts without any attempt at explaining whether there is any causation.
Posted by: Tom Maguire at May 9, 2003 02:49 PM
