President Obama The Tax Cutter

by Stuart Shapiro

As President Obama, for the first time in his presidency, campaigns actively for an increase in taxes on the wealthy, it is worthwhile to note his record to date.  If you listen to the Republican talking points, you would think that there is nary a tax cut to be found in that record.  Steve Benen (with some help from the graphic here from the Center for American Progress) explains why Republicans have trouble understanding the data.

For the right, this is somehow a subjective question. Whether Obama cut taxes seems to be a matter of opinion. Sure, the president says he cut taxes for millions of Americans, but since people didn’t really notice, the argument goes, then maybe it didn’t happen.

Whether it’s widely realized or not, it did happen. We can debate whether the tax cuts were wise or effective; we shouldn’t debate whether they occurred in reality.

The right seems to believe that if they accuse the president of having raised taxes enough times, then it will be true.  But as the old cliche goes, “Wishing doesn’t make it so.”

By: Stuart Shapiro

Stuart is a professor and the Director of the Public Policy
program at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers
University. He teaches economics and cost-benefit analysis and studies
regulation in the United States at both the federal and state levels.
Prior to coming to Rutgers, Stuart worked for five years at the Office
of Management and Budget in Washington under Presidents Clinton and
George W. Bush.