Congressional Research Service: Taxes and the Economy: An Economic Analysis of the Top Tax Rates Since 1945 (pdf)
See earlier coverage by Steve Benen:
The report Mitch McConnell doesn't want you to see
-
Fri Nov 2, 2012 9:37 PM EDT
Leave a Comment:
- 2013
- 2012
- 2011
- 2010
- 2009
How is it the minority party in the Senate had the power to suppress this? There's something missing here.
One Senator regardless of party can hold up legislation & nominations I'm sure one can keep a report from being published & made public
I think the words you skipped were Minority Leader. These are still very powerful men especially when it comes to the people who work for them...
Money and threats are the suppression of choice.... just a guess
" Minority Leader."
thinking its that word Leader that he and most of the others don't understand.
Shooter,
It was probably because McConnell or some other Republican Senator or Congressman who requested the information. The Congressional Research Service has to have an official request rendered before they do work - they don't do independent research. Independent here means that they don't decide on their own what they research.
Apparently the report didn't turn out the way the requestors thought that it would, so now they want to quash it! Too late!!!
something about the wording,,, guess the wording showed just how F-ed up they are.
OOPS
Here is how a minority or even ONE can and do obstruct the Senate explained
http://fixthesenatenow.org/pages/whats-broken/
The so-called "minority" party has usurped the power of the majority party by using 112 filibusters to block voting on legislation. You don't have to win the vote if its never gets voted upon. This is why the Republicans should be kicked out of the Senate. They have destroyed our Democracy by their actions. Vote Democrat to get our Democracy back!
Since the procedural rules can be changed at the beginning of each session with a simple majority, it seems whichever party wins the Senate can improve the situation. But sadly, that was the case last session too.
How do you suppress facts or people that unfortunately is too easy, have lots of money and pay off lots of people to do your dirty work. And end result the rich get richer at the very cost of everybody else's lives.
ok Shooter question for you, and this isn't a trick and I am not being snarky I'm serious.
Which do you think is more desirable a compromise or majority rule?
Again I am being serious
Majority rule. Compromise seems to be beyond us.
No, compromise is beyond the GOP, since Boehner has said straight out that he doesn't believe in compromise, and another sterling individual, Mr. Mourdock, said that compromise should be Democrats bowing to what the Republicans want. So, the problem is not "us", but people like you.
yes read that this morning pretty sicking i tell you, but then again if fits their modus operandi! sabotage/obstruct/destruct America plan.
just like them threatening Bernanke for making the moves he should have made a few years ago.
When you read this thing you can see why the Republicans absolutely had to bury it.
It was created by a nonpartisan office that exists for the use of congress, which makes it very hard to arbitrary dismiss as "Biased".
It punches a hole in the most popular conservative economic theories saying not only do they not work they in fact make things worse.
And all right before an election where the GOP candidate is one of the few very wealthy people that this report says supply-side economics helps is urging average people to believe it will work for them.
This wouldn't just torpedo the Romney campaign message this could sink the party.
well nice thing is on Tues. the president gets reelected and this comes out and shows they have no ideas that actually work for America as a whole Country.
True! Of course, Nobel laureate economists, like Paul Krugman, have been saying this for years. But everybody knows he's biased... toward things like books, and larnin'.
BTW, I loved his item from today - Dewey, Cheatham and Howe for Romney.
Get Enraged and Engaged:
Mooch the Vote 2012!
;-)
Actually the thing I think is most potentially interesting isn't that if Obama wins he won't "Owe" these people anything it's that he will also be armed to the teeth for reform with Romney's own cheesy campaign promises.
He can go around closing loopholes and exemptions and forcing these people to actually pay the minuscule taxes they do owe instead of letting them send them off to Switzerland in a doggy bag and no one could say a thing about it because Romney has been promising for a year that it would make the world a brighter place...and who knows he might just be right...
Yes I am a fan of poetic justice
And CNN woman, perky blonde, has already started the excuse, the person who headed the study donated to democrats so the report is biased. Just heard her whine on Bill Mahers show about how wrong the study was.
on a related note I went and read the response to this on National review on-line. What was interesting wasn't the bit about this report but something that was buried in it
"...Accusations that the Bureau of Labor Statistics, for instance, had manipulated the September jobs numbers, that official inflation statistics are inaccurate, are without any basis whatsoever"
So the next time someone tries to throw the old "The books are cooked" chestnut at you tell them to read this:
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/332357/about-crs-paper-conservatives-and-data-patrick-brennan
That report should be reposted again and again. We all want to believe that cutting taxes magically fixes everything. But it's a crap shoot, with no logic.
Even corporate CEOs are trying to make the case that we need more revenue. Strike a budget deal already, GOP, and let the country move forward. Get over it, the obstruction game is growing mold. Start helping your country instead of acting like children. And for gods sake, I never want to have to look at Mitch McConnell ever again.
There will never be a deal on Taxes as long as the GOP is terrified by a man who's named after a Muppet
and is a Muslim (married into it) also has knows ties to Terrorist (the real kind).
the Muslim thing is really NO Problem, BUT it is went your on the side that just can not help themselves in just sticking their heads in wrong places of their lower parts. I can see the Turtle Mitch sticking his head in his a$$ as that's just being a turtle.
Bravo Rachel. Thank you bringing us the truth and facts.
I agree! But some are still so blinded by the GOP.
Yes, Rachel. Now, if we can get the low-informed to pay attention, that'd be great.
Thank you for the link! Of course Republican's won't read it. The truth hurts.
We'll send them a pop-up book with big brite colors
Dragoon21b can we make the pop-up book multi-colored and maybe with some sparkles?
Sorry, the only color they recognize is white.
White only hey commonsense99 that is a good one, especially when no ones skin is really white and we are really all African Americans in some form or fashion.
The Republicans already know all this. They suppress it because the unfairness works for them.
1%'s income up 275% during George Bush.
Yea I know therealchris, Republicans, religious extremists and the extreme wealthy are always playing some sort of head games and unfortunately too many people fall for that crap which encourages hatred.
Hmmmm.......
Trickle Down, Supply Side Economics has failed as the country's production capacity goes to waste over 30 years.
Summary
Income tax rates have been at the center of recent policy debates over taxes. Some policymakers have argued that raising tax rates, especially on higher income taxpayers, to increase tax revenues is part of the solution for long-term debt reduction. For example, the Senate recently passed the Middle Class Tax Cut (S. 3412), which would allow the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts to expire for taxpayers with income over $250,000 ($200,000 for single taxpayers). The Senate recently considered legislation, the Paying a Fair Share Act of 2012 (S. 2230), that would implement the “Buffett rule” by raising the tax rate on millionaires.
Other recent budget and deficit reduction proposals would reduce tax rates. The President’s 2010 Fiscal Commission recommended reducing the budget deficit and tax rates by broadening the tax base—the additional revenues from broadening the tax base would be used for deficit reduction and tax rate reductions. The plan advocated by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan that is embodied in the House Budget Resolution (H.Con.Res. 112), the Path to Prosperity, also proposes to reduce income tax rates by broadening the tax base. Both plans would broaden the tax base by reducing or eliminating tax expenditures.
Advocates of lower tax rates argue that reduced rates would increase economic growth, increase saving and investment, and boost productivity (increase the economic pie). Proponents of higher tax rates argue that higher tax revenues are necessary for debt reduction, that tax rates on the rich are too low (i.e., they violate the Buffett rule), and that higher tax rates on the rich would moderate increasing income inequality (change how the economic pie is distributed). This report attempts to clarify whether or not there is an association between the tax rates of the highest income taxpayers and economic growth. Data is analyzed to illustrate the association between the tax rates of the highest income taxpayers and measures of economic growth. For an overview of the broader issues of these relationships see CRS Report R42111, Tax Rates and Economic Growth, by Jane G. Gravelle and Donald J. Marples.
Throughout the late-1940s and 1950s, the top marginal tax rate was typically above 90%; today it is 35%. Additionally, the top capital gains tax rate was 25% in the 1950s and 1960s, 35% in the 1970s; today it is 15%. The real GDP growth rate averaged 4.2% and real per capita GDP increased annually by 2.4% in the 1950s. In the 2000s, the average real GDP growth rate was 1.7% and real per capita GDP increased annually by less than 1%. There is not conclusive evidence, however, to substantiate a clear relationship between the 65-year steady reduction in the top tax rates and economic growth. Analysis of such data suggests the reduction in the top tax rates have had little association with saving, investment, or productivity growth. However, the top tax rate reductions appear to be associated with the increasing concentration of income at the top of the income distribution. The share of income accruing to the top 0.1% of U.S. families increased from 4.2% in 1945 to 12.3% by 2007 before falling to 9.2% due to the 2007-2009 recession. The evidence does not suggest necessarily a relationship between tax policy with regard to the top tax rates and the size of the economic pie, but there may be a relationship to how the economic pie is sliced.
Very well stated.
Thanks for posting this. Of course we didn't need this report to tell us what we already knew. When was America at it economic best? Highest real GDP per capita. Highest real income per capita per year? Under Kennedy when the top tax rate went from 90% to 72%. The second biggest economic boom since WWII was during the Clinton administration.
And those two "Booms" had less to do with tax rates than with real world economics that were happening at the time.
In the 1960's it was driven by American overseas investments that had been made post WWII that were paying off and in the 1990's it was the tech boom.
I allow my students to use CRS as a source because it is non-political. Now I wonder if the CRS will start to tailor their reports (the info our reps and senators use to assess the issues of the day) to fit the political climate. SCARY!
Sorry. In a data and fact driven conversation you are right. This is not that kind of conversation.
The GOP is the Party of Faith, not facts. And the farther right they go, the more it seems that facts and faith are becoming mutually exclusive.
They ignored the drought this summer, they ignored the warmest decade in recorded history and they will ignore Sandy. And this report will merely become another inconvenient truth.
I accept that as generally true but when you are talking about Americans who aren't tuning into FOX with tinfoil hats 24/7 I think this makes a big difference.
Thank you for covering this report. I don't know how the Democrats let the Republicans stop it from becomming public... Where were the Democrats on this one?
I don't know how the Democrats let the Republicans stop it from becomming public
Huh? It's right here...what is this private?
The Republicans should just say they are Mafia. They are nothing more than wrong thinking, hypocritical, money loving above American souls, THUGS!
Thank you for covering this report. I don't know how the Democrats let the Republicans stop it from becomming public... Where were the Democrats on this one?
I really hope people don't make truthful heartfelt decisions based on falsehoods. Know ALL facts because a lot of people are being taken for fools. Read.
got power back in the East Village tonight after 5 days. first show I watched. thanks for bringing this report to everyone's attention
Glad you're ok Stay safe and be well.
Good to hear that things are improving, woddy'sdad. Please let folks know that you're on our minds.
Thanks Rachel,
This is telling. I suspected the same, but had not seen it laid out so clearly. I'll keep this at hand for the next time I'm buldgeoned with right-wing propaganda about 'job creator's'!
Robin Hood in reverse not working..... Glad to know that some people have the guts to expose the top 1%'s bid to keep everyone poor and themselves sitting on a pile of money that even their family's or their familys family will never spend in their lifetime
Don't be fooled into thinking the Democrats are perfect and angelic in their political ways. They too have some suspicious and shady dealings throughout their lives.
However it fails to even come close to the utter disgraceful GOP. Suppressing votes, hiding truths, buying/stealing elections...all of these things are by far worse than any left-leaning political person could ever do.
What ever happened to politicians paid by THE PEOPLE who represent THE PEOPLE?
sadly We The People don't pay well anymore.
Pilotshark, we should pity the plight of the poor pathetic politician: when We The People proffer a mere pittance, private corporation ‘people’ provide their payroll. /snark and alliteration off
Hope you are well, Pilotshark, it's been a while since the old TP days - Jane E. Schneider
Smiling yes it has.
how have you been? i am well or as well as we can be. drop by TP notice a few other names of old.
FR sended
Wayne and I are both good, looking forward to next Tuesday! Yes, a few old TPers are still around there, some other different names. I occasionally still post there, but mostly writing for TheZoo (http://tpzoo.wordpress.com/) along with other ex-TPers.
Good to see that you're still offering your wit and wisdom to the political conversation. :) - Jane
Thanks, good to hear you and Wayne are hanging in.
yes now its one day and wake up!
WOW!
Didn't most thinking people think this was true? Although, I was surprised at how stark the conclusions were in the report (I would have thought there would have to be some little crumb that the trickle-down self-deluders could cling to -- I was wrong).
The founding fathers (while many were quite well off) were skeptical of dynastic wealth and with good reason.
It is truly *frightening* that a CRS report could be suppressed.
Keep up the great work Rachel! FYI the Harper Govt of Canada aka Republican Party North are currently trying to do the same with F35 costing data... Care of The Hill Times: http://www.hilltimes.com/news/news/2012/10/31/tories-on-public-accounts-committee-striking-out-references-to-pbo-testimony-in/32630
The idea that if you repeat it loudly and often, people will believe it, is the entire Republican governing plan. For economics, check out this article and the book: http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2012/10/10/want-a-better-economy-history-says-vote-democrat/
Everyone needs to see their charts that expose the myth that we have a better economy under Republicans. You can flip through it in 15 minutes and totally get it!
Bulls Bears and the Ballot Box: How the Performance of OUR Presidents Has Impacted YOUR Wallet by Bob Deitrick, Lew Goldfarb
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1599322889/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00
The conclusions are based on analysis of taxpayers in the top .01% and top .1%. This probably represents less than 1,000 taxpayers. The results would undoutedly be quite different had the study included all US taxpayers with income of over $250,000. A conclusion could be drawn that the study would support a tax hike on the .01% and .1% but not by any means on everyone making over $250,000.
From what I was taught in school giving tax breaks to people who will not use those tax breaks is pointless (such as giving it to millionaires). Giving tax breaks, however, to people who will put that money to work does generate revenues (we can disagree on how much, but the point is it generates something). My old economics teacher used to say that the 2 entities tax breaks should be oriented towards were payroll earners, especially low income ones, and small businesses/low income businesses. After a certain point your company or you personally/your family have more than enough money to meet your needs and at that point being given more money no longer affects you.
It seems to me that your analysis that this doesn't necessarily apply across the board would be correct. I think this is why we probably need to adjust the tax code to better reflect the reality of small businesses (especially ones just starting out) and other people who would otherwise fit into that "top income earner" bracket, but who would benefit from the tax cut versus those who would just have more money to stuff into a bank. The problem we have right now is that people want to generalize across the board: tax cuts aren't inherently bad (although you DO have to pay for them- so, in other words, I'm rejecting the Republican meme that tax cuts are free), but they also aren't the greatest thing since sliced bread. A tax break to a millionaire who lives in rural Texas (and only needs 200k/year to meet his needs- thus meaning he makes 800,000$/year more than his living expenses) would not help him out (just would get stuffed into a bank somewhere), but it might help a small business in Chicago making 300,000$ a year with 20 employees who is in the red.
That, however, assumes we have a congress willing to talk about substance and not nuance. Won't hold my breath
Should read "that is in the red" as opposed to "who" is in the red.
Yes cartoon- because businesses are people
Ahhh I've been assimilated!!!!!
Given that we're talking about the principle opon which our economy is operating, I would think that the alternative study you suggest would have been ordered imediately. That is if well being of the economy is really foremost in ones mind.
I'm betting not
I always think of it like this. The Republican party supports a 90% tax rate. The bottom 90% get taxed and the top 10% go and lay on the beach in the Cayman Islands in between trips to China.
But there will never be an agreement to increase revenue as long as the GOP are terrified by fringe groups lead by people like Grovver Norquist. Much like what we see in congress a relatively small bunch of radicals have in effect hijacked the country and are holding us all hostage.
You have to wonder how the rethuglicans trolls that get on here saying "Obama sux, OMG he is so bad and corrupted blah blah blah *insert fear mongering quotes*"(basically they're saying that they are racist motherfockers) but seem to forget that on Jan. 20, 2009, rethuglicans made a pledge to be the "NO" team and basically said they will drag America to the ground because a black man is president. All the while distorting facts because the truth hurts too much. Doesn't that say much of how these rethuglicans are expecting their base to be dumb idiots who won't ever bother fact checking(even the Romney campaign said they will not be fact checked) because they've been fooled that the black guy, in their racists hearts, that he is bad for America when the rethuglicans has been bad for America the last four years. The irony is that the guy who's trying to help America is being teared apart everyday by the party who does not have America's best interests at heart or weren't even trying to help rebuild America from the mess that they themselves caused. Sad to be an American right now. I use to say when I go overseas that the injustice I see overseas would NEVER happen here but it is and if we give rethuglicans the power they so craved for, America will no longer be a democracy.
republicansalwayslie i agree, i remember when they said they would say no to everything mr obama proposed,,and mr obama had many good ideas to help the country,,they always blocked him,,the republicans are the enemies of america,,,i am white,,and i am ashamed of them,,,mr obama for me is exceptional,,when he got the mess the republicans left,,with bush-cheney in charge,mr obama acoomplished miracles to get it as good as it is now,,,i voted already mr obama all the way