McCain Campaign: We're All Supply-Siders Now

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We have six decades of experience of a variety of tax codes. Top marginal income tax rates as high as 91% and as low as 28%. Without many exceptions, the Federal govt's take has been between 17-19% of GDP.
The question is how we're going to reduce spending to that range. Any other argument is fantasy.

Patrick R. Sullivan of WA 12:11PM July 08, 2008

How about a Reality-base politician who tells the truth. Supply-side? A budget that ignores the war-spending? Does he only trust economists who agree with him, or only agree with part of his programs? I guess economics isn't really his strong suit. This is the best the Republicans got?

thebob.bob of OR 6:58PM July 07, 2008

Oh yes, how dare the American public expect anything for it's hard-earned tax dollars but seemingly endless wars which are dragging us down, accomplishing nothing but putting money into contractors and oil companies pockets, in other words, letting Bush & Co. continue their 8-year feed at the trough. Louis XIV lives.

Mary Reilly of PA 2:40PM July 07, 2008

David Stockman, Ronald Reagan's budget director, admitted that the 1981 tax cut was a Trojan horse:
“ The hard part of the supply-side tax cut is dropping the top rate from 70 to 50 percent—the rest of it is a secondary matter. The original argument was that the top bracket was too high, and that's having the most devastating effect on the economy. Then, the general argument was that, in order to make this palatable as a political matter, you had to bring down all the brackets. But, I mean, Kemp-Roth was always a Trojan horse to bring down the top rate."

m callan of CA 2:37PM July 07, 2008

What good is a balanced budget if Congress keeps using "emergency" supplemental spending bills to hide the costs of the war in Iraq?
The budget might look balanced, but in reality we'll still be spiraling into debt.

DCX2 of PA 1:51PM July 07, 2008

"So using the campaign's own economic logic, McCain would pretty much have to eliminate all nondefense discretionary spending to pay for his tax cuts."
I'm game, but we all know that some politician or crybaby would come out of the woodwork, decrying how we are taking from "insert favored group here."

Chris of AZ 1:14PM July 07, 2008