Sloppy or Dishonest Fiscal Analysis from the Washington Post

Good fiscal policy means low tax rates and spending restraint.

And that’s a big reason why I’m a fan of Reaganomics.

Unlike other modern presidents (including other Republicans), Reagan successfully reduced the tax burden while also limiting the burden of government spending.

President Biden wants to take the opposite approach.

A few days ago, Dan Balz of the Washington Post provided some “news analysis” about Biden’s fiscal agenda. Some of what he wrote was accurate, noting that the president wants to increase spending by an additional $6 trillion over the next 10 years.

…the scope and implications of his domestic agenda have come sharply into focus. Together they represent the most dramatic shift in federal economic and social welfare policy since Ronald Reagan was elected 40 years ago. …The politics of redistribution, which are at the heart of what Biden is proposing, could test decades of assumptions that Democrats should be afraid of being tagged as the party of big government. …Together, the already approved coronavirus relief plan, the infrastructure proposal that was unveiled a few weeks ago and the newly proposed plan to invest in social welfare programs would total roughly $6 trillion.

But Mr. Balz then decided to be either sloppy or dishonest, writing that we’ve had decades of Reagan-style policies that have squeezed domestic spending and disproportionately lowered tax burden for rich people.

Reagan’s small-government philosophy resulted in a decades-long squeeze on the federal government, especially domestic spending, and on tax policies that mainly benefited the wealthiest Americans. …Government spending on social safety-net programs has been reduced compared with previous years.

Balz is wrong, wildly wrong.

You don’t have to take my word for it. Here’s a chart, taken from an October 2020 report by the Congressional Budget Office. As you can see, people in the lowest income quintile have been the biggest winners,, with their average tax rate dropping from about 10 percent to about 2 percent..

Here’s a chart showing marginal tax rates from a January 2019 CBO report. As you can see, Reagan lowered marginal tax rates for everyone, but Balz’s assertion that the rich got the lion’s share of the benefits is hard to justify considering that people in the bottom quintile now have negative marginal tax rates.

Balz’s mistakes on tax policy are significant.

But his biggest error (or worst dishonesty) occurred when he wrote about a “decades-long squeeze” on domestic spending and asserted that “spending on social safety-net programs has been reduced.”

A quick visit to the Office of Management and Budget’s Historical Tables is all that’s needed to debunk this nonsense. Here’s a chart, based on Table 8.2, showing the inflation-adjusted growth of entitlements and domestic discretionary programs.

Call me crazy, but I’m seeing a rapid increase in domestic spending after Reagan left office.

P.S. There’s a pattern of lazy/dishonest fiscal reporting at the Washington Post.

P.P.S. I also can’t resist noting that Balz wrote how Biden wants to “invest” in social welfare programs, as if there’s some sort of positive return from creating more dependency. Reminds me of this Chuck Asay cartoon from the Obama years.

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An Independence Day Message from a Great President

This video I posted in 2011 is my favorite Reagan clip, but here’s a video that also is very much worth watching.

And even though these words weren’t uttered on July 4, what he says is quite appropriate for Independence Day.

If you need more inspiration from one of the two best Presidents of the 20th century, here are some of Reagan’s most memorable moments.

P.S. Here’s the other great President of the last century.

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Happy Birthday President Reagan

Ronald Reagan was born 101 years ago today, so let’s celebrate the great man with some videos.

But since I’ve already shared a video highlighting Reagan’s deep understanding of both economics and history, let’s watch a few clips showing his sense of humor.

We’ll start with a look at his use of humor while President.

And if we go back further in time, here are three videos of him participating in Dean Martin roasts.

We’ll start with the show where he was roasted. Here’s his response.

And here he is on the other side, doing roasts of Frank Sinatra and George Burns.

Last but not least, here’s Reagan on the Sonny and Cher Show.

And if you still haven’t gotten enough Reagan, you can look at several policy-related videos at this link, including Reagan’s famous Goldwater speech in 1964, the “tear down this wall” speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, and the two most memorable lines from his debates with Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale.

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Happy 100th Birthday to Ronald Reagan

On the 30th anniversary of his inauguration, I posted a bunch of videos that captured Ronald Reagan’s greatness, but I think we need only one for the 100th anniversary of his birth.

This video illustrates Reagan’s superior understanding of fiscal policy. He points out how the Keynesian economists and politicians were profoundly wrong when they claimed the dramatic reduction in government spending after World War II would cause a deep downturn.

He also explains that the real goal is liberty. And he favorably cites the other great President of the 20th century.

We are so lucky that he was there, in the right place at the right time, and saved the western world.

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Seven (Actually, Eight) Historic Videos to Celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s Inauguration

On this day in 1981, a truly great man became President of the United States. To celebrate, here are a few videos.

This was Reagan’s coming-out political moment, his speech on behalf of Goldwater in 1964, which includes the great line about the “soup kitchen of the welfare state.”

And here’s a clip from his inauguration, where he says something that most Republicans forgot.

Here’s his famous “tear down this wall” speech in Germany.

Here’s a heartwarming video about Reagan’s use of humor.

And, speaking of humor, here are his famous lines from his 1980 debate with Carter and his 1984 debate with Mondale.

Let’s close with Reagan’s incredibly moving D-Day speech about the “boys of Pointe du Hoc.”

October 2015 Update: I can’t resist adding this video because it perfectly captures Reagan’s wisdom.

Captures the spirit of these cartoons, I think you’ll agree.

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Would You Want a Left-Wing Actor in the White House?

Sean Penn for President? How about George Clooney? Or what would you think of President Ed Anser? (assuming he’s still alive)

Hollywood is filled with collectivists, probably because of a combination of guilt over immense wealth and a shallow desire to be trendy and chic.

Well, here’s a video of an actor campaigning for statist politicians. Do you think you could vote for him if he ran for office at some point in the future?

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The Next Ronald Reagan?

Very rarely does one find a politician with the moral clarity to provide the blunt and necessary truth about a controversial issue, but that has finally happened. But this is a good news/bad news situation for American taxpayers. The good news is that a politician has proposed to slash both bureaucrat pay and public pensions and publicly stated that, “The state sector is like a fat man of 200kg sitting on the back of a 50kg little man who is the real economy.” The bad news is that this politician is the President of Romania. A caveat is probably appropriate at this stage. I have no idea whether Presdident Basescu actually is a genuine small-government proponent. Perhaps he is just an ordinary politician forced to do the right thing by extraordinary circumstances. Nonetheless, I have a hard time imagining we will see a better quote from an elected official this year. Here’s an excerpt from a story in the Irish Times:

President Traian Basescu said officials had decided…to reduce the pay of state employees by 25 per cent from next month and pensions and unemployment benefits by 15 per cent this year. …He said the cutbacks would also help reinvigorate an economy that is being crushed by a bloated and inefficient state sector, and allow Romania to avoid steep tax hikes that could hamper investment and destroy hopes of a swift recovery from recession. “This plan was inevitable. The state sector is like a fat man of 200kg sitting on the back of a 50kg little man who is the real economy,” said Mr Basescu, who narrowly won re-election at the end of last year.

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A Tribute to the Man Who Saved America

Ronald Reagan was born 99 years ago on this date.

The tribute is moving, but this video underscores what made Reagan special. Unlike most Republicans today, he actually believed in freedom.

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