Everyone Who Dislikes/Likes George W. Bush, Tell Us Why In Your Own Words

Some who have read this board for a few years may be surprised that I didn’t mention the tax cuts. Here’s why. After doing considerable reading on the subject I’ve come to the following conclusions: 1) the Bush taxes “cuts” have had an overly burdensome impact on the most productive members of society. Translated: the productive rich are paying too much in taxes. The “tax cut” has been a tax increase on the top tax brackets in the country. I’m sure most will think I’m over the top crazy to say this, but take a look at the actual tax numbers. Not the rhetoric. Look at the numbers. The wealthiest Americans, as a group, are paying a much higher share of taxes today than they were before the tax “cuts”.

So what has accounted for the economic recovery, you may ask. Well, first off, the tax cuts did initially have a stimulative affect, which was needed at the time (2002, 2003). But the bulk of the economic boost the economy received in the 2002-2004 timeframe came from artificially low interest rates brought on by the Fed, which led to the housing boom. I was reading a study from Northern Trust over a year ago, which concluded that low interest rates were basically responsible for the vast majority of the economic gains coming out of recession. The more I look at the data coming out, the more I believe that report. I put up a thread in late 2005 talking about a virtual certainty of an economic slowdown in 2006 versus 2005. After all the revisions have settled in, that forecast, I’ll admit a very low risk forecast, has proven to be true. But the reasons behind the forecast are what is important.