Become a digitalPlus subscriber. $13 for 13 weeks.


Gross Domestic Product
Tax policies continue to constrain US economy
Tax policies continue to constrain US economy

Some myths die hard, thanks to a feckless and ineffective American media, such as Cal Thomas' assertion (quoting Reagan) that the people aren't under-taxed but we have deficits because the government spends too much. A clear-eyed view of the facts/numbers shows that this belief is 180 degrees wrong. Historically, the federal government spends 22 percent of the gross domestic product — Reagan, Bush one, Bush two, Clinton and Obama, all administrations since WWII. So how did Clinton manage balanced budgets and even surpluses? His tax policies (which did not stifle growth or kill jobs, as evidenced by the best economy of our lifetimes under Clinton) brought in revenues of 22...