Rewriting the History of the Bush Tax Cuts

Tim Russert opened Meet the Press quoting President Bush:

It is deeply irresponsible to rewrite the history of how that war began.

And then Ken Mehlman proceeded to do just that. Josh Marshall notes that Mehlman now has “twice the lying power” and Crooks and Liars provides us with the videotape.

It would seem that Michael Darda has joined other right wingers claiming that they opposed the 2001 tax cuts:

As an advisor to then-candidate George W. Bush, Larry Lindsey helped design a Keynesian tax cut in 2000, which was passed in 2001 after Bush was elected. It was heavy on consumer rebates and tax credits for the married with children, and light on supply-side incentives for growth. And it was a flop. The 2002 “recovery” moved at the pace of a 40-yard dash in a geriatric ward: Real GDP averaged 1.9 percent annualized growth despite a fed funds rate that was below 2 percent.

Actually, Lindsey was designing his “perfectly timed” tax cut back in 1999 when the economy was at full employment. Lindsey was also selling himself as a supply-sider back then and most right wingers advocated its passage. Yes, it flopped despite the National Review’s commentary back in 2002 that it was working wonders. But then many Keynesians were criticizing its design given that the tax cuts were back loaded and favored high income groups.

As we read on – we see Darda’s real agenda: praising the 2003 tax cuts. I’m glad that Darda has seen the light as to the need for more national savings and investment given what he wrote on November 4 and we criticized:

But there is another thing I don’t get about the free lunch crowd – don’t they understand that as consumption rises relative to income, this means savings declines? Do they teach budget constraints at the economics department of National Review University or have they repealed the law of scarcity?