Is it hard to make the case for that second set of labels? Bill Clinton raised taxes, and it was pro-growth. George W. Bush cut taxes, income inequality increased, and there was a bubble and a crash. Barack Obama raised taxes, and there was growth. A quick bit of research going back to Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt will demonstrate pretty much the same thing.

Yet news reporters invariably avoid deconstructing the mantra that tax cuts for the rich are pro-growth and tax hikes will strangle the economy.