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Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Heritage Foundation Debunking Debunked
The Heritage Foundation has released a misleading document entitled "Ten Myths About the Bush Tax Cuts." The first "myth" that Heritage's Brian M. Riedl "debunks":
Myth #1: Tax revenues remain low.
Fact: Tax revenues are above the historical average, even after the tax cuts.
Tax revenues in 2006 were 18.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), which is actually above the 20-year, 40-year, and 60-year historical averages.
But a careful inspection of the budget using CBO's "The Cyclically Adjusted and Standardized Budget Measures" indicates that when the effects of the economy on federal revenue and expenditures are accounted, the budget deficit is mostly the result of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. From 2001 to 2005, federal tax receipts, as a percent of the economy, were 0.6% lower than average, and federal outlays were 0.8% lower than average.
| Revenues and Outlays as Percent of GDP |
| Revenues | Outlays |
| 20-year Average | 17.7 | 19.5 |
| 40-year Average | 17.7 | 19.3 |
| 2001-2005 | 17.1 | 18.5 |
(click on image to enlarge)
Posted by Craig Jennings
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