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Posted on 06/22/2007 1:37:25 PM PDT by RobFromGa
June 22, 2007 Tax Cuts for Kids
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One of the reasons I keep ringing the bell about the Bush tax cuts is that they’ve been so good for our country in so many ways. Letting them expire would amount to a tax hike of historic proportions -- a tax hike that would take a higher share of our total economy than any year but one since the end of World War II.
Prosperity is a wonderful thing in many ways. When societies have strong economies, people voluntarily take care of all kinds of problems, and the quality of life improves for everybody. This may be particularly true for children. Look around the world and you see healthy, growing economies have cleaner environments and better educational systems. The wealthier a society is, the better its children are in terms of nutrition, health care and even crime.
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a story about an article in the Journal of Social Issues. It documents the drop in the rates of crime against children from the early 1990s. Let me give you just a few examples.
Since 1993, according to Justice Department statistics, the juvenile homicide rate was cut in half. For kids between the ages of 14 and 17, the reduction was even greater. The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System shows child abuse declined by 43 percent and childhood sexual abuse by almost half. Sexual assaults against adolescents dropped by more than two thirds and aggravated assaults by almost 75 percent.
This is dramatically good news, especially for children and their parents. And the reasons behind these improvements in the lives of American children are linked to economic growth. With increased revenues on a state and local level, more police were hired. Financially healthy families took their children to doctors more often, who were more likely to prescribe medications and other treatments. The study even pointed out that increased financial health reduces family tensions and produces happier children -- less prone to problem behaviors.
The irony is that we got these improvements in our children’s lives from a strong economy driven by tax cuts. Now we're being told that tax cuts have to end, so that the government can tax us and spend the money on programs to accomplish what Americans already did for themselves. And they did it far better than any bureaucracy ever could.
posted by Fred Dalton Thompson on 6/22/2007 2:34:43 PM
for your pinging pleasure...
B U M P
Ohhh yeah! Bump!
Stick that in your craw and choke on it Hillary, Bullosi and Traitor Reid.
I love it!
“Tax cuts: It’s for the CHILDREN!”
The day he announces he can no longer do these for ABC.
I hope he starts doing them on his campaign site then.
Democrats hate tax cuts, they must hate children too...
Here’s an oldie but goodie on the same basic topic...
April 14, 2007
Case Closed: Tax Cuts Mean Growth
Originally posted on 4/14/07 in The Wall Street Journal
It’s that time again, and I was thinking of the old joke about paying your taxes with a smile. The punch line is that the IRS doesn’t accept smiles. They want your money.
So it’s not that funny, but there is reason to smile this tax season. The results of the experiment that began when Congress passed a series of tax-rate cuts in 2001 and 2003 are in. Supporters of those cuts said they would stimulate the economy. Opponents predicted ever-increasing budget deficits and national bankruptcy unless tax rates were increased, especially on the wealthy.
In fact, Treasury statistics show that tax revenues have soared and the budget deficit has been shrinking faster than even the optimists projected. Since the first tax cuts were passed, when I was in the Senate, the budget deficit has been cut in half.
Remarkably, this has happened despite the financial trauma of 9/11 and the cost of the War on Terror. The deficit, compared to the entire economy, is well below the average for the last 35 years and, at this rate, the budget will be in surplus by 2010.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about this success story is where the increased revenues are coming from. Critics claimed that across-the-board tax cuts were some sort of gift to the rich but, on the contrary, the wealthy are paying a greater percentage of the national bill than ever before.
The richest 1% of Americans now pays 35% of all income taxes. The top 10% pay more taxes than the bottom 60%.
The reason for this outcome is that, because of lower rates, money is being invested in our economy instead of being sheltered from the taxman. Greater investment has created overall economic strength. Job growth is robust, overcoming trouble in the housing sector; and the personal incomes of Americans at every income level are higher than they’ve ever been.
President John F. Kennedy was an astute proponent of tax cuts and the proposition that lower tax rates produce economic growth. Calvin Coolidge and Ronald Reagan also understood the power of lower tax rates and managed to put through cuts that grew the U.S. economy like Kansas corn. Sadly, we just don’t seem able to keep that lesson learned.
Now, as before, politicians are itching to fund their pet projects with the short-term revenue increases that come from tax hikes, ignoring the long-term pain they always cause. Unfortunately, the tax cuts that have produced our record-breaking government revenues and personal incomes will expire soon. Because Congress has failed to make them permanent, we are facing the worst tax hike in our history. Already, worried investors are trying to figure out what the financial landscape will look like in 2011 and beyond.
This issue is particularly important now because massive, unfunded entitlements are coming due as the baby-boom generation retires. We simply cannot afford higher taxes if we want an economy able to bear up under the strain of those obligations. And beyond the issue of our annual federal budget is the nearly $9 trillion national debt that we have not even begun to pay off.
To face these challenges, and any others that we might encounter in a hazardous world, we need to maintain economic growth and healthy tax revenues. That is why we need to reject taxes that punish rather than reward success. Those who say they want a “more progressive” tax system should be asked one question:
Are you really interested in tax rates that benefit the economy and raise revenue — or are you interested in redistributing income for political reasons?
Mr. Thompson is a former Republican senator from Tennessee whose commentaries, “The Fred Thompson Report,” can be heard (and read, here) on the ABC Radio Network.
(c) Wall Street Journal
::Back::
posted by Fred Dalton Thompson on 4/14/2007 1:53:55 AM
I;s this guy good, or what? We’re going to love him as POTUS
“They must hate children too.”
Yep, killed ‘em all. Amazing they have any voters at all.
I fear the Republicans are once again going to be unable, or unwilling, to jump on a point and make the most of it. This time it’s taxes. They should be making a huge point of explaining undoing the last tax cuts would amount to a huge tax increase. Bless their hearts, they just can’t seem to latch on to a subject and, like a bulldog, not let go.
There are probably a dozen items that they could make points with if they just had someone to organize the talking points and make sure they get repeated ad nausea.
Even though Mel Martinez is one of my senators he is absolutely worthless as the head of the party. Sorry, Mel, you just don’t have what it takes.
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Redistributing income for political reasons, of course. That's what Washington pols do. *sheesh*
Financial liberty works. A nearly 50% aggregate tax rate doesn't work so well.
This is good, better with some tweaking. Obviously being rich doesn’t make one more or less responsible. Neither does being poor. I would argue that the principles of a free economy tend to produce responsible people because they directly reap what the sow. Responsibility breeds more responsiblity. Look at child rearing. Which is better, do everything for the child and never teach him personal responsibility, or teach him to be responsible by letting him reap what he sows.
Bless their hearts, they just can’t seem to latch on to a subject and, like a bulldog, not let go.
I am not too sure about that... they have latched on to Shamnesty and won’t let that dog die.
Speaking of taxes, it is fundamentally unfair to take away tax breaks from middle to high income people. That goes for credits as well as write offs. Either tax the money or don’t. But don’t tax it for one American and not for another. No one should lose their personal exemption just becuase they earned more money than another person. That tax rate fraud. Neither should parents lose the tuition credit for children just because of their earnings level. Again, fraud. Tax tuition or don’t tax tuition. Give personal exemptions or don’t give them. But don’t hide higher tax rates by taking away deductions or by giving credits to some and not to others. I don’t mind caps on the amount you can deduct. That stays equal for all. But it shouldn’t depend on how much you earn. Then it because welfare.
I’m with Fred!
I just hope he doesn’t do something dopey like get suckered into the FairTax free-lunch plan. I think he is too smart for that though...
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