Reason Magazine has run the numbers on the Bush tax cuts. They find that a typical couple earning between $50,000 and $75,000 have saved between $1899 and $4627 over three years, depending on the amount of deductions the couple takes.
These calculations suggest that, contrary to John Kerry and other critics, the Bush income tax cuts have in fact put real money in the pockets of typical American families.
None of this should be taken as a brief for George W. Bush. One of us (Nick Gillespie) is on the record (in the November issue of Reason, on newsstands now!) as declaring that he will not vote for Bush; he has also consistently decried Bush's policies on trade, drug prohibition, gay marriage, public education, and the invasion of Iraq. One of us (Mike Snell) plans a principled vote for the guy who promises not just to cut taxes, but to abolish the income tax altogether.
But the fact remains that Bush's cuts have reduced the amount of income tax we all pay. Though Kerry will certainly suggest otherwise in Friday's debate, the trouble with Bush's budget policy isn't that he cut income taxes. It's that he hasn't cut spending. Indeed, perhaps the strongest case for electing Kerry may be that he will usher in an age of divided government that will restrain federal spending and the various problems that accompany it. That's what happened the last time a Democratic president squared off against a Republican Congress. At least in fiscal terms, the results were pretty good, with discretionary spending increasing only a (relatively!) measly 3.4 percent annually under Clinton. It's a shame that we won't hear Kerry making that sort of argument in the next debate. It's just the sort of thing that might get him a few more votes from limited-government advocates who are disappointed with Bush.
Emphasis mine. Not much left to say on this subject.
Posted by Walter at October 6, 2004 05:03 PM