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Tax Cut Fiasco

Randy Ludacer

Published: February 14, 2009

A generally accepted premise is expecting different results from the same behavior is completely irrational.
During the Reagan administration, David Stockman, Reagan's budget director, persuaded the Republicans to embrace the concepts of supply side economics and the theory that if the top earners earn more it will "trickle down" to the rest of the economy.
To achieve this result, major tax cuts for those in the highest tax brackets were implemented, with the result that the national debt was doubled during the Reagan years.
The policies were changed by Clinton, and by the end of the Clinton administration, the debt was eliminated. Bush inherited a surplus and introduced major tax cuts for the wealthy, which ultimately led to the largest national debt in our history.
Fast forward to 2009, and the Republicans in Congress are again arguing that the solution for our current economic malaise is for more tax cuts for the wealthy as this will revive our economy and create more jobs, thus solving our current difficulties.
Does anyone dare to challenge the concept this time or are we doomed to repeat the behavior in expectation of a different result?
Randy Ludacer
Lake Placid