Republicans don't understand Economics

[_Kevin Graham]

Want a Better Economy? History Says Vote Democrat!


Here are 3 reasons why everything you hear from Republicans about economics is baloney:

1. They say tax cuts on the wealthy and on corporations spur economic growth. Wrong. The U.S. economy grew faster each year between 1945 and 1980, on average, when the top marginal income tax rate was never lower than 70 percent and when corporate taxes were far higher, than the economy has grown since 1980.

2. They say economic growth trickles down in the form of better jobs. Wrong again. Almost all the gains from growth since 1980 have gone to the to the top 1 percent and into corporate income. And the share of corporate income going to workers has plummeted to its lowest level since 1951. Just since 2000, that drop has cost workers $535 billion annually, or $3,770 per worker, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

3. They say Republican presidents do better for the economy than Democratic presidents. Baloney. As the accompanying article from Forbes (of all places) shows,

-- Personal disposable income has grown nearly 6 times more under Democratic presidents.

-- Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has grown 7 times more under Democratic presidents.

-- Corporate profits have grown over 16% more per year under Democratic presidents (they actually declined under Republicans by an average of 4.53%/year).

-- Average annual compound return on the stock market has been 18 times greater under Democratic presidents (If you invested $100k for 40 years of Republican administrations you had $126k at the end, if you invested $100k for 40 years of Democrat administrations you had $3.9M at the end)

-- Republican presidents added 2.5 times more to the national debt than Democratic presidents. The two times the economy steered into the ditch (Great Depression and Great Recession) were during Republican, laissez faire administrations.

Given all this, why would anyone who cares about jobs, wages, and the economy vote Republican?

[_ldsfaqs]

Liberals are amazingly stupid....

1. Let's not confuse "Democrats" of history with being entirely the same as today's Socialist/Maxists.
2. Kevin G. still does not know how to use his brain to not understand that during most Democrat President "prosperitys", the country a.k.a. Congress was actually being entirely run by Republicans. They are the ones who passed laws, changed things, stopped things, balanced budgets, etc.

It's amazing your brainwashing Kevin G. The HUGE Dept Obama has created on top of the understandable War Debt of Bush, and the more he want's to create is astronomical. And you actually think Republican's don't understand Economics. LOL

Let's see you run your family in Debt Kevin G. and see how long and good it does your family.

[_DarkHelmet]

I fondly remember Bill Clinton's 1993 budget bill. Rush Limbaugh ranted and raved how that bill would destroy the country. We were in a recession and Clinton's bill would surely drive us into a full blown depression, according to the genius Rush Limbaugh. Of course he was wrong, as usual. We had strong and steady growth for the rest of the decade.

To be fair, politicians from both sides understand economics just fine. If they don't, there are plenty of really, really smart economists in both parties that work as advisers. The problem is politicians are in business to get elected, and the best way to do that is to promise to give things to people, regardless of the economic impact it will have. Republicans give rich people tax breaks, and democrats give poor people free stuff, and that has led to the predicament we find ourselves in today. The only way out of this mess will be to cut spending AND raise taxes. Good luck getting elected on that platform. The last guy to try that approach was Mondale, and that didn't turn out too well.

[_Kevin Graham]

I fondly remember Bill Clinton's 1993 budget bill. Rush Limbaugh ranted and raved how that bill would destroy the country.

Yes, I remember it quite well actually. Those were the years when I was listening to him religiously while driving back from work in traffic. And later on when it became undeniable that the economy was booming under Clinton, Rush began to pontificate about how it takes 3-4 years before an administration's policies really take effect and bear their economic fruits. Meaning, all the good that came from the Clinton economy was really just aftershocks from the Reagan/Bush era, and that the economy would have done even better had Clinton not raised taxes, etc.

Facts mean nothing to these jag-offs. They just keep changing their arguments and moving the goal posts whenever history undermines their claims.

[_Brackite]

I fondly remember Bill Clinton's 1993 budget bill. Rush Limbaugh ranted and raved how that bill would destroy the country. We were in a recession and Clinton's bill would surely drive us into a full blown depression, according to the genius Rush Limbaugh. Of course he was wrong, as usual. We had strong and steady growth for the rest of the decade.

The Early 1990s Recession ended before 1993. That recession ended during the spring of 1991.

The recession of the early 1990s lasted from July 1990 to March 1991. It was the largest recession since that of the early 1980s and contributed to George H.with. Bush's re-election defeat in 1992. Although mainly attributable to the workings of the business cycle and restrictive monetary policy, the 1990-91 recession demonstrated the growing importance of financial markets to the American and world economies.

http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/proje ... ssion.html



The Unemployment rate ended up peeking at 7.8% in June of 1992, but it dropped to 7.3% in January of 1993 when Clinton took office.

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS14000000

[_Brackite]

2. Kevin G. still does not know how to use his brain to not understand that during most Democrat President "prosperitys", the country a.k.a. Congress was actually being entirely run by Republicans. They are the ones who passed laws, changed things, stopped things, balanced budgets, etc.

I think that the 1993 budget bill that was signed by President Clinton when the Democrats still controlled Congress then also helped balanced the budget later on that decade.