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| Source:Thom Hartmann- debating tax reform with Ryan Streeter. |
"Thom Hartmann debates Ryan Streeter, Editor of ConservativeHomeUSA / Director of Fiscal & Economic Policy-Sagamore Institute, on the Cain and Perry tax proposals."
From Thom Hartmann
The economy that Thom Hartmann is talking about was pre-1981 and even pre-1964 before President Lyndon Johnson and later President Ronald Reagan cut taxes across the board. What Mr. Hartmann seems to want is a tax system that ranges from 20-25% to 90%, which is what it was under President Dwight Eisenhower.
With Ryan Streeter seeming to making the supply side economics argument, that if you just cut taxes especially on wealthy people, investors, and corporations, that alone will not just drive economic growth, but create so much revenue that those tax cuts will pay for themselves.
We know supply side economics doesn't work at least in the sense that those tax cuts don't pay for themselves. Especially when you're also doubling government spending, which is what the Reagan Administration did as well.
Current tax rates range from 10-34%. We know that doubling the lowest tax rate and giving lower, middle income people a tax hike whether you're talking about a flat tax, or the Thom Hartmann plan and going back to the Eisenhower tax rates won't work either. Most Americans who aren't either upper class or upper middle income simply can't afford afford any tax increases right now, especially at the levels of 50-100%.
The best income tax system that we could have is where rates are low on everyone, to encourage economic growth, spending, and investment. Where you force government to pay for everything that it does regardless of what the tax rates are, to keep debt and deficits down. And you eliminate most if not all the tax loopholes in the system, especially if they don't lead to any economic growth or investments and just gives us higher deficits and debt.
