Same Old Tune, Fiddle and Guitar

Remember when Republicans told us the Bush tax cuts would pay for themselves by creating such awesome economic growth?

• "You Cut Taxes And The Tax Revenues Increase."  George W. Bush, 2006.

• "The deficit would have been bigger without" tax cuts.  George W. Bush, 2002.

• 'The entire package the president does believe will lead to growth, which will over time grow the economy, create additional revenues for the federal government, and pay for itself.' Ari Fliecsher, 2003.

• In 2001, the right wing Heritage Foundation concluded Bush's tax cuts would be so terrific, so awesome and lead to such unprecedented economic growth that it would create large streams of revenue "and the national debt would effectively be paid off by FY 2010."

Yeah it wasn't that long ago when Republicans were telling us tax cuts never needed to be offset, never had to gain any serious thought about being paid for and actually increased revenue; and would magically pay off our entire federal debt.  No joke. 

Of course none of that ever happened.  

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There were years of rising tax revenue as unemployment fell, but there was never, ever, not one year of unprecedented growth.  At least not growth greater than the previous decade where taxes were at Clinton rates and growth was much longer and stronger.  Also, the tax cuts never created a surplus or came anywhere near paying off the entirety of the federal debt.  The Bush tax cuts did just the opposite.  They took the largest surplus in history and turned it into the largest deficit in history.  Some $600 billion of today's budget deficit comes from Bush's tax cuts.  No new revenue was created.  Only revenue lost.  In fact, massive deficits created a federal debt more than double the size the Heritage Foundation said Bush would wipe out by 2010.  They weren't just wrong about what would happen.  They weren't even close.  What we got was the worse economic collapse since the Great Depression.  That's called epic failure.

Why does this matter now?  Because, once again, as predicted, Republicans led by Mitt Romney are claiming tax cuts, cuts much deeper than Bush's, will create super awesome economic growth and we shouldn't worry about numbers, math or what if everything they are saying is nuts.

But let's get this straight.  Romney says he's going to cut tax rates an additional 20%, add over $2 trillion of new spending and unprecedented economic growth will magically appear that will pay for all the tax cuts contained in his budget plan for America.  We've been through this before America.  This is exactly what the Bushies promised us just a few short years ago and it failed miserably.

Moreover, there isn't one serious study out there that proves what Mitt Romney is trying to sell.  Fox News isn't even buying his crap when he talks about having 6 studies backing him.  That should tell us all something.

Most importantly, allowing the very same people who were so blatantly wrong then to speak candidly now like they've been right all along is a disservice to the whole country; and frankly asinine.