I am sorry to say I have seen FReepers post that tax cuts must be “funded” first before they would endorse them.
That is ridiculous.
It is even more bizarre that Daniels and others refuse to admit that tax cuts increase revenue to the federal government. You would think this would make them happy.
If there were any truth to there views, how did the US not become a super jugernaut when tax rates were in excess of 70% prior to Reagan?
We should have been rolling in the dough throuhgout hte 1970s.
The tax code was also riddled with loopholes, many of them small enough to fit only a single person. In general the only people who paid the full rate were poor suckers who weren't able to protect their earnings by tax time.
Then the AMT was devised as a "fix" to ensure that people paid at least some tax, no matter how well covered they could be by loopholes and other deductions.
President Reagan knocked down the tax rates and knocked out most of the loopholes. Unfortunately, he left the AMT in place and now it is hitting a lot of people that it was never aimed at.
The whole tax code is a crock. Always has been. There's nothing fair or reasonable about paying a higher percentage from a higher base income. A straight percentage still means that the more income you have, the more tax you pay. Targeted tax cuts are as bad as targeted tax increases. It's social engineering and socialism by any other name will still smell bad.