Second of all, can someone please tell me how punitive tax rates contribute to economic growth?

Just to play devils advocate.

If you look at the job growth of the 90's, in which taxes were higher across the board, we had 20 million new jobs created.

In the first decade of the 2000's, we had a very large across the board tax cut, and the decade as a whole was a net loss in terms of jobs created.

What reason do we have to believe that just cutting taxes more is going to create jobs when a decade of lower taxes proved to be a net tax loser?

Higher taxes aren't the answer to creating jobs, but color me skeptical that there is suddenly going to be a jobs bonanza if we cut taxes again.

IggyPride00 wrote:

Second of all, can someone please tell me how punitive tax rates contribute to economic growth?

Just to play devils advocate.

If you look at the job growth of the 90's, in which taxes were higher across the board, we had 20 million new jobs created.

In the first decade of the 2000's, we had a very large across the board tax cut, and the decade as a whole was a net loss in terms of jobs created.

What reason do we have to believe that just cutting taxes more is going to create jobs when a decade of lower taxes proved to be a net tax loser?

Higher taxes aren't the answer to creating jobs, but color me skeptical that there is suddenly going to be a jobs bonanza if we cut taxes again.

That's nice, and in a vacuum would mean something, but it doesn't answer my question. How do higher tax rates help economic growth?

Also, how did we manage 20 million new jobs with Clinton signing NAFTA early in his tenure? Don't you mean Mexico created 20 million new jobs? Or do you mean protectionist trade policies are nonsense?

Actually, cutting the capital gains tax has been shown to increase revenue.

http://www.house.gov/jec/fiscal/tx-grwth/capgain/capgain.htm