Here is my latest column at American Issues Project:
Feckless Administration Ignores Economic Blueprint For Success
President Bush announced in October 2007 that because of increased tax revenues as a result of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 the national deficit was lower than the average of the past forty years. The Bush Administration celebrated the news at the White House website that their tax cuts had worked.
Tax cuts work to promote economic growth, and that economic activity brings in higher revenues to the Federal treasury. This year tax revenues grew by $161 billion to reach $2.568 trillion, the highest level of Federal revenues ever recorded. That’s an increase of 6.7 percent. And it builds on the 14.5 percent and 11.8 percent increase in revenues during the last two years.
During the Bush years, despite the 2000 Recession, the attacks on September 11, the stock market scandals, Hurricane Katrina and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush Administration was able to reduce the budget deficit from 412 billion dollars in 2004 to 162 billion dollars in 2007, a sixty percent drop. In 2004, the federal budget deficit was 412 billion dollars. In 2005, it dropped to 318 billion dollars. In 2006, the deficit dipped to 248 billion dollars. And, in 2007, it fell below 200 billion to 162 billion dollars. During the Bush years, the average unemployment rate was 5.2 percent, the economy saw the strongest productivity growth in four decades and there was robust GDP growth. These were amazing accomplishments considering the major challenges during the Bush years…
You can read the rest here. There is also a list of my recent columns on this page.