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This has been an extremely interesting discussion. Bruce, I tend to side
with you on the issues. However, the comment you made on Bush's tax
increase has me wondering how that tax on the upper 1% of the population
negatively effected the economy. We had an extremely high national
deficit at the time that was tending to drive up interest rates. That
tax increase and the subsequent one that Clinton pushed through on the
upper 2% of the population had the positive effect of helping to bring
government borrowing down and thereby reduce interest rates. It's hard
to refute the point that since both those tax increases the economy has
been booming, much to the stern warnings of many at the time. If those
tax increases were detrimental to the economy, where is the evidence? In
my mind, to the extent they contributed to debt / deficit reduction, they
were exactly what was needed. Yes, spending could have been reduced, but
try doing that in the real world! And if we are going to spend, we
should at least bring in the revenue to pay for it. To continue spending
our way into debt as we were doing is not a viable prescription for a
healthy economy in the long run.
Otherwise, I thought your case was eloquent.
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