Fox News’ Megyn Kelly states that tax cuts “on the so-called rich” increase federal revenues. Tax experts and economists disagree, noting that tax rates are not high enough for a tax cut to increase revenues.
President Bush’s own economic advisers have said the Bush tax cuts did not raise revenue.
Meghan Kelly claims to have researched this, but Fox research is monotonously one sided, dismissing the needy and middle class, while giving a sales pitch for the wealthiest.
PolitiFact.com: “You Should Expect Tax Revenues To Go Up Each Year Due To Economic Growth And Inflation.”
PolitiFact.com fact-checked Rep. Mike Pence’s claim that “raising income tax rates will likely actually reduce federal revenues,” countering that “you should expect tax revenues to go up each year due to economic growth and inflation, even if tax rates stayed the same”:
But we consulted the tax experts, who told us you can’t just look at the raw numbers, for several reasons. First, you should expect tax revenues to go up each year due to economic growth and inflation, even if tax rates stayed the same. Second, there’s not a straight line between tax rates and tax revenues. You can raise taxes the same year the economy tanks and get less revenue, or you can cut taxes during a time of economic growth and get more revenue. And those changes in the economy aren’t necessarily caused by what the government is doing with tax rates — the upturns could be due to new inventions and innovations, and the downturns could result from financial panics and real estate bubbles that have little to do with tax rates. And economists have to go to quite a bit of trouble to separate out the effects of tax policy from other things happening in the world.
FactCheck: “Revenues Have Declined In Only Five Years Since 1962.“ Rebutting Sen. John McCain’s claim that the Bush tax cuts have “increased revenues,” FactCheck.org wrote:
Federal revenue normally increases every year. In fact, revenues have declined in only five years since 1962. The 35 percent growth between 2003 and 2006 is significant – the last major growth in revenue was between 1997 and 2000, when the economy was booming and federal receipts rose 28.2 percent. But the recent three-year period also comes after three years of decreases, a drop Viard attributes to the 2001 tax cuts and the start of a recession that same year.
With Republicans knowing President Obama could lose support if the tax cuts for the rich do not expire at the end of the year, this tug of war will be strenuous.
Millionaire, Glenn Beck is fighting for rich.
According to Newsweek, Limbaugh earns $58.7 million a year, Glenn Beck earns $33 million,
Sean Hannity $22 million, Bill O’Reilly earns $20 million and Sarah Palin earns $14 million.
Is it no wonder they’re fighting for this so passionately?
Read more from PolitiFact here.
