While Republicans in Congress are blocking every effort put forth by President Obama, they still offer no real alternatives to create jobs and deal with the economic crisis confronting the nation. Currently, House Republicans are blocking the Obama administration’s efforts to promote healthier lunches in school by saying the new rules are too costly. They also are complaining that the administration’s proposal to reduce the marketing of unhealthy foods to children add unnecessary regulations. The strange thing is each time such efforts are mentioned, they always use the label of Ronald Reagan to support their cause.
The truth is that taxes under the Obama administration are actually lower than they were under their beloved President Reagan. Yes, taxes under President Obama are lower than they were under President Reagan. While Reagan was in the White House, the top tax rate was higher than the present 35 percent for seven of his eight years in office. Data support that in six of seven years, it was 50 percent or higher.
This is extremely problematic for the GOP since they continuously maintain that our present economic conundrum is due to spending and not declining revenues via taxes, although revenue has decreased steadily as a result of the recent recession.
The tax policies of Reagan, who raised taxes four times in just two years, resulted in a tax rate of around 11 percent in 1983 for a family of four, compared to 4.6 percent under Obama in 2010. Also, each year, under the Reagan administration, the lower tax bracket was higher than the present level of 10 percent.
So, the reality is that Republicans are untruthful about the history of their sacred Ronald Reagan, and the more they speak of cutting taxes, the more damage they are willing to do to the U.S. economy. –torrance t. stephens, ph.d.
