There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.
~George W. Bush, September 17, 2002
That’s our W! Perhaps the single biggest beneficiary of the Trump era. It only goes to prove rehabilitation is relative. For decades to come, sliced bread–as in “the best thing since” — will have a new counterpart in Donald J. Trump — as in “the worst thing since.”
We all know what W was trying to say. Learn from the past. And when it comes to giving people something to learn from, the Bush years were a master class. Today, let’s just focus on the economy. Thanks to sound economic policies including tax INCREASES, jointly crafted by a Democratic administration and a Republican Congress, George Bush entered the White House after three years of surplus revenues and a reduction in the national debt of more than $425 billion.
But despite the historical evidence from the Ronald Reagan, David Stockman and Arthur Laffer era that supply side and trickle down policies were in fact “voodoo economics (per George H. W. Bush),” the “Po’ Thang Clan” of W advisors thought it deserved another shot. And to make sure it got off to a roaring start, Bush proposed and Congress passed the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001. (Remember the $800 check and the money the Treasury wasted on postage to tell you that check was in the mail.) But that was just the beginning of this unpaid-for-federal-free-for-all. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO), which scores the fiscal impact of all bills estimated the legislation would add $1.5 trillion to the national debt over ten years. (Keep that number in mind. It will miraculously reappear later in this post.”
So how did that turn out? Sure, we had a major terrorist attack which was a drain on the national economy, but an analysis by CBO in 2011 resulted in the following graph. While the cost of two unfunded wars do regularly contribute to the annual deficit, it pales in comparison to the impact of the Bush tax cuts and the economic recession resulting from that and other Bush era policies. As the old saying goes (or should), “A picture speaks a thousand billion dollars.”
On November 2, 2017, the GOP-led House introduced The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. There are many things to dislike about the proposal including how the liar-in-chief claims he will lose money under the revised tax code even though the bill contains the following three provisions which, based on what little we know about Trump’s finances, will save him and his progeny over a TRILLION dollars in taxes.
- Elimination of the Alternative Minimum Tax.
- Retention of the carry forward provision.
- Elimination of the estate tax. (Maybe the younger Trumps consider this reparations for having been saddled with a narcissistic, dishonest father figure.)
I’m just waiting for Trump to claim he would have written the check but he has bone spurs in his fingers. Perhaps we should call these provisions tax deferments rather than tax cuts.
But the bigger tragedy is who will pay for this reverse Robin Hoodism. CBO says the bill may cost at least $1.5 trillion over the next decade and more in the out-years. (I told you to keep that number in mind.) We’ve seen and heard this before. So where is W when we really need him. Listen closely, maybe you can hear him practicing his next speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce annual conference.
There’s an old saying SOMEWHERE — exactly where, I’m not quite sure — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you, you know — the Republican mantra of personal responsibility. Fool me — even if I’m the one fooling me — still shame on you. Buy this hokum a third time, shame, shame, shame on YOU again. Too bad you didn’t get it the first time.
For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP