Who’s The Better Proprietor?

Cross-posted over at Nobrainer’s place.
I know that Nobrainer enjoys a good economic discussion just about as much as anyone, so I thought I’d add my own humble contribution.
TaxProf has a very interesting graph noting that, in the wake of the Bush tax cuts, government tax receipts have *gasp* gone up, not down, as the doom-n-gloomers on the Left have tried to predict they would.
Time and again, it’s shown that the government makes a very poor steward of other peoples’ money because, when it comes down to it, it’s other peoples’ money. Gov’t regulation and taxation, writ large, are huge impediments to the further growth of our economy. When the US Gov’t stands aside and lets people (and businesses) keep more of their own money, shock of all shocks, productivity goes up and thus there’s more money to tax and the total tax receipts go up.
It’s a simple concept. Why can’t people seem to get it?

7 Comments

Fair Tax….let’s give it a try. Cause we sure as heck aint getting anywhere with what we have now!

Mr. Orange, are you being serious or sarcastic?
“Fair” Tax is the national sales tax with annual rebate, right? I defintely haven’t studied it, even though I like the general premise of a consumption tax. Realistically, though, when the sales tax jumps to 30% (as we know sales taxes today), people will do their damnedest to avoid it: legally or illegally. So call me skeptical that things would really end up better off at the end of the day.

I’m going to sit this one out, because, well, you can’t win when it comes to taxes. I think I’m ok with a VAT or otherwise flat tax system, but then again, my father is employed soley to deal with the system as it is – complex.
I will say that the chart says nothing of things like workforce and the like. For example – how many workers were there in 2003 vs. 2005? I don’t think it would be out of line to assume there would be more in 2005, as the boomers aren’t retiring en masse yet, and 2 years add plenty to the workforce. Combine that with an un-natural death rate i surmise you will find is at least the same as, if not lower then, 2003, and you can easily come up with more tax payers available to pay taxes. Is it $300 billion worth? I couldn’t tell you, because the data isn’t there.
In short, it is entirely possible that the graph means nothing. We can never know what the FY2005 #’s would have been had the Jobs and Growth act not have been enacted.

You are either delusional or intentionally spreading propaganda. If you do 5 seconds worth of research you would know that the increase in revenue is 100% attributable to the top wage earners and corporate welfare mongers. Increase in profits from the major insurance corporations alone (raised rates 500% in 6 years) is attributable for over HALF of the extended revenues.
The working men and women in this country are suffering horrifically. The Bush TAX cuts or should I say shift will not even pay for the increases lost in State funding.
The top 5 -7 %ers are making tons. but these people are not creating American Jobs.

Fred:
I’m sorry that you didn’t receive your tax reduction like every other taxpaying American. Perhaps you should go down to your local IRS branch and complain – you, sir, are due to collect some of the money you rightly earned back from the government.
Seriously, though: why should you or anyone else have anything approaching a “right” to my money?
And yes, as the upper tier of wage earners earns more money, the amount of taxes they pay will, in fact, increase. What’s wrong with you? Don’t you dream one day of becoming one of those upper tier-ers? Have you no drive, no fire, no desire for success? Or do you just want to content yourself with slagging off on others’ success and whining, all the while making nothing of yourself?

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