You can't blame a tax cut for revenues that were lost because of a recession, can you? True. But neither can you credit a tax cut for revenues that increase due to the recovery from a recession. The following graph shows receipts, outlays, and deficits since 1981:
The actual numbers and sources are at http://home.att.net/~rdavis2/mts.html. As you can see, the recovery from the 1980-82 recession was no more impressive that either of the recoveries that we've had since then. In addition, the graph shows two problems with the original article by Jerry Bowyer that started this thread. As you can see from his chart in post #7 above, Bowyer did not correct his revenue numbers for inflation. In addition, he was very selective in showing only the last four years. As the graph above shows, inflation-corrected revenues are still well below their 2000 highs. Hence, Bowyer is bragging about a partial recovery from a very deep drop in revenues.
As you can see, the recovery from the 1980-82 recession was no more impressive that either of the recoveries that we've had since then. How about compared to recoveries before 1980-82?
OUTSTANDING CONSUMER CREDIT AND PERSONAL SAVING: 1959-2003
(billions of dollars)
Personal Disposable Total Non-
Personal Current Personal Consumer Revolving Revolving Personal
Year Income Taxes Income Credit Credit Credit Saving
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
1959 392.8 42.3 350.5 56.0 0.0 56.0 26.7
1960 411.5 46.1 365.4 60.0 0.0 60.0 26.7
1961 429.0 47.3 381.8 62.2 0.0 62.2 32.2
1962 456.7 51.6 405.1 68.1 0.0 68.1 33.8
1963 479.6 54.6 425.1 76.6 0.0 76.6 33.3
1964 514.6 52.1 462.5 86.0 0.0 86.0 40.8
1965 555.7 57.7 498.1 96.0 0.0 96.0 43.0
1966 603.9 66.4 537.5 101.8 0.0 101.8 44.4
1967 648.3 73.0 575.3 106.8 0.0 106.8 54.4
1968 712.0 87.0 625.0 117.4 2.0 115.4 52.8
1969 778.5 104.5 674.0 127.2 3.6 123.6 52.5
1970 838.8 103.1 735.7 131.6 5.0 126.6 69.5
1971 903.5 101.7 801.8 146.9 8.2 138.7 80.6
1972 992.7 123.6 869.1 166.2 9.4 156.8 77.2
1973 1110.7 132.4 978.3 190.1 11.3 178.7 102.7
1974 1222.6 151.0 1071.6 198.9 13.2 185.7 113.6
1975 1335.0 147.6 1187.4 204.0 14.5 189.5 125.6
1976 1474.8 172.3 1302.5 225.7 16.5 209.2 122.3
1977 1633.2 197.5 1435.7 260.6 37.4 223.1 125.3
1978 1837.7 229.4 1608.3 306.1 45.7 260.4 142.5
1979 2062.2 268.7 1793.5 348.6 53.6 295.0 159.1
1980 2307.9 298.9 2009.0 351.9 55.0 297.0 201.4
1981 2591.3 345.2 2246.1 371.3 60.9 310.4 244.3
1982 2775.3 354.1 2421.2 389.8 66.3 323.5 270.8
1983 2960.7 352.3 2608.4 437.1 79.0 358.0 233.6
1984 3289.5 377.4 2912.0 517.3 100.4 416.9 314.8
1985 3526.7 417.4 3109.3 599.7 124.5 475.2 280.0
1986 3722.4 437.3 3285.1 654.8 141.1 513.7 268.4
1987 3947.4 489.1 3458.3 686.3 160.9 525.5 241.4
1988 4253.7 505.0 3748.7 731.9 184.6 547.3 272.9
1989 4587.8 566.1 4021.7 794.6 211.2 583.4 287.1
1990 4878.6 592.8 4285.8 808.2 238.6 569.6 299.4
1991 5051.0 586.7 4464.3 798.0 263.8 534.3 324.2
1992 5362.0 610.6 4751.4 806.1 278.4 527.7 366.0
1993 5558.5 646.6 4911.9 865.7 309.9 555.7 284.0
1994 5842.5 690.7 5151.8 997.1 365.6 631.6 249.5
1995 6152.3 744.1 5408.2 1140.6 443.1 697.5 250.9
1996 6520.6 832.1 5688.5 1242.2 498.9 743.2 228.4
1997 6915.1 926.3 5988.8 1305.0 521.7 783.4 218.3
1998 7423.0 1027.0 6395.9 1400.3 562.8 837.5 276.8
1999 7802.4 1107.5 6695.0 1512.8 590.5 922.3 158.6
2000 8429.7 1235.7 7194.0 1686.2 658.9 1027.4 168.5
2001 8713.1 1243.7 7469.4 1822.2 703.9 1118.3 127.2
2002 8910.3 1053.1 7857.2 1902.7 716.7 1186.0 183.2
2003 9208.0 991.4 8216.5 1998.5 744.9 1253.6 173.5
Great table. You have this data in real dollars? If so could you chart it versus the individual real income tax revenue numbers in post #42?