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When it came to the effects of his so called tax cuts.
One can make the claim that there was no middle class tax cut under Bush, but this can only be said to have occurred because of the increased taxes at the state and local leve that resulted from the cuts in funding to the states. In fact, about 56 percent of the tax cut money went to the lower 98 percent of income earners under the Bush plan, but the loss came in paying more out to the states adn localities.
Under Reagan, his convoluted and so called tax cuts actually raised taxes on the bottom 98 percent of income earners. Someone making 18,000-20,000 dollars a year, single, no children, no mortgage, go about 100-200 dollars back the year prior to Reagans income tax cuts going into effect. The years they went into effect, the same person eaning the same amount noted above, actually had to write a check to the IRS to the tune of 240 dollars. The Reagan tax cuts gave over 90 percent of the money to the top 2 percent of wage earners. On top of this, the idea that these people would invest the money that they saved in taxes on things like upgrading plant equipment and hiring new peopl never occurred. 95 percent of the money that businessews and individuals saved on taxes were not used to re-invest in businesses. Well let me correct that. 95 percent of the money was used to give the executives large bonuses, and to purchase perquisites for those executives, like golf courses, condos for them to hold working vacations in, increased stock options and so on, as Reagan also changed the tax codes to such a degree that there were no limits on executive remuneration. SO if it came to downsizing your business, working your FLSA 80 hour a week becaue they are not eleigible for overtime, not hiring new employees, and giving yourself a large bonus for figureing out how to utilize the new tax codes, and buying yourself 6,000 dollar shower curtains, this was as viable a way of reducing the corporations tax burdens as purchasing health insurance for your employees, or hiring more employees as your existing staff started to collapse due to lack of sleep. I bet you all remember the yuppie stories of middle managers working 80 to 100 hours a weeks beleiving that this is just what someone going up the corporate ladder does. Well it was Reaganomics 101 that caused this.
The end result wa finally the Enron, World COm and other Scandals that resulted from Reagan's most nightmarish deregulation. That of the Securitues industry. Anything that the executives could get away with was approve, and in fact, applauded.
Bush is simply the obvious outcome of Reaganomics.
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