Comments for In Addition to Geithner, Republican Economists Also Argue That Tax Cuts Do Not Pay for Themselves at http://www.cepr.net , comment 1 to 5 out of 5 comments http://www.cepr.net Mon, 20 May 2013 03:36:28 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/in-addition-to-geithner-republican-economists-also-argue-that-tax-cuts-do-not-pay-for-themselves#comment-1921 When is the press (and Americans) going to grow up from this notion that just because we elect someone to congress they have something meaningful and true about the economy? They don't. They depth of misunderstanding and nonsense emanating from congresspersons on the economy is astounding. They aren't omniscient yet their comments are treated as such. I want to see the press, after quoting a congress person on the economy, state if majority economic thinking agrees, disagrees, or doesn't know. Better yet, skip the congress person's comments altogether - they don't enlighten, except about that person's opinion. - djt Thu, 05 Aug 2010 07:51:33 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/in-addition-to-geithner-republican-economists-also-argue-that-tax-cuts-do-not-pay-for-themselves#comment-1920 Dean, what I like about reading your posts every day is the common sense you bring to these discussions. But sometimes it's better to turn a point around than to simply react to wingnut positions. In this case, the myth that tax cuts pay for themselves is the flip side of another myth, namely, that taxation is always a net-negative expense. Some taxes, such as those earmarked for education, job creation, and some state and local government assistance, can actually increase productivity or reduce overall costs, which ultimately leads to higher per capita after-tax income. I realize that commonly understood metaphors like "household budget" and "business finance" often don't translate well to macro economics, but for this discussion, I would ask the deficit hawks how long they think a business would last (and what the impact would be on employees, customers, investors, and other stakeholders) under a permanent strategy of cost-cutting and zero investment in growth opportunities. And izzatzo, I don't know what you're smoking but I know it's not legal. ;) - myxzptlk Thu, 05 Aug 2010 07:13:41 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/in-addition-to-geithner-republican-economists-also-argue-that-tax-cuts-do-not-pay-for-themselves#comment-1918 Mitch McConnell already debunked this some time ago. The Bush tax cuts did pay for themselves. Does a single stupid liberal doubt that spending would be even less if the Bush tax cuts were not in place? The ingrates don't have enough economic sense to realize that the GDP output gap would be even greater and the deep recession even worse if not for Bush, who had the foresight to see the recession coming and took preventative action. Bush understood the benefits of deficit fiscal spending way before the liberals were quoting Keynes. - izzatzo Thu, 05 Aug 2010 05:59:09 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/in-addition-to-geithner-republican-economists-also-argue-that-tax-cuts-do-not-pay-for-themselves#comment-1916 Hello, Does anyone with a functional thinking brain believe the words coming out of a politician (with rare exceptions). Just remember that Republicans believe that they can create reality (at least for their followers) whenever they want. Their economic theories are the same as the commercial of some years ago in which a woman orders a great amount of food and then believes she will not gain or possibly even lose weight as the last thing she ordered with her meal was a diet soda. - Kenneth Fingeret Thu, 05 Aug 2010 04:18:43 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/in-addition-to-geithner-republican-economists-also-argue-that-tax-cuts-do-not-pay-for-themselves#comment-1913 This was a nice post, thanks for the post Dean, and the link to the CBO summary doc. - Aditya Thu, 05 Aug 2010 03:38:24 +0100