Fight the Myth! Reagan Was a Tax Increaser!

[BurtWorm]

See Paul Krugman for an explanation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/08/opinion/08KRUG.html

This is a disgusting myth (Reagan the Mighty Tax Cutter) that has to be combatted. Reagan agreed to raise taxes when the numbers looked bad--in the budget, in the Congress and in the polls.

[BurtWorm]

1. Reagan cut taxes once. He raised taxes twice.

Once on corporations, once on payrolls.

[BurtWorm]

2. Middle and low income families saw a net gain to their taxes in the 80s

From Krugman:


Mr. Reagan's second tax increase was also motivated by a sense of responsibility — or at least that's the way it seemed at the time. I'm referring to the Social Security Reform Act of 1983, which followed the recommendations of a commission led by Alan Greenspan. Its key provision was an increase in the payroll tax that pays for Social Security and Medicare hospital insurance.

For many middle- and low-income families, this tax increase more than undid any gains from Mr. Reagan's income tax cuts. In 1980, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates, middle-income families with children paid 8.2 percent of their income in income taxes, and 9.5 percent in payroll taxes. By 1988 the income tax share was down to 6.6 percent — but the payroll tax share was up to 11.8 percent, and the combined burden was up, not down.