Is it not a FACT, Jack?

An oldie, but goodie from my "Mo Wayback Machine" (Jack was a Townhall commenter):

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that of the $1.412 trillion in total deficits throughout the Reagan era $784.6 billion dollars of that was SOLELY the fault of the Democrat Congress (when you compare his submitted budgets to those passed by Congress)?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that total federal revenues doubled from just over $517 billion in 1980 to more than $1 trillion in 1990 and, in constant inflation-adjusted dollars, amounted to a 28% increase in revenue?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that revenues from individual income taxes climbed from just over $244 billion in 1980 to nearly $467 billion in 1990 and, in inflation-adjusted dollars, amounted to a 25% increase?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that means-tested entitlements, which do not include Social Security or Medicare, rose by over 102% between 1980 and 1993?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that the Reagan economic boom lasted 92 months without a recession, from November 1982 to July 1990, and was the longest period of sustained growth during peacetime and the second-longest period of sustained growth in US history lasting more than twice as long as the average period of expansions since WWII?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that the American economy grew by about one-third in real inflation-adjusted terms, which was the equivalent of adding the entire economy of East and West Germany or two-thirds of Japan's economy to the U.S. economy?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that the average, highest individual income tax rate of our major economic trading partners during the 1980s and 1990s was 51% while the U.S. was much lower at 33%, which led to the United States creating more than twice as many new jobs as Japan and Western Europe combined?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that after the landmark Tax Reform Act of 1986, which closed special-interest loopholes in exchange for top marginal rates of 28%, the highest combined federal-state marginal tax rate was about 33% - much lower than it is today?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that even after the spending spree of the 1980s, the deficit-to-GDP ratio in FY-1989 (Reagan’s last budget) was 2.78% while Obama’s FY-2010 was 8.54%, his FY-2011 was 8.69%, and his FY2012 deficit was 7.06%?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that, from 1950 to 1973, real economic growth in the U.S. economy averaged 3.54% per year?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that, from 1973 to 1982, real economic growth in the U.S. economy averaged 1.6% per year?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that the supports of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 were those raging conservative Republicans known as the Democratic Senator from the Great State of New Jersey, Bill Bradley, and the Democratic Congressman from the Great State of Missouri, Richard Gephardt, and this Act lowered top marginal rates to 28%? 

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that, the Reagan economic boom restored the more usual growth rate as the economy averaged 3.56% in real growth from the beginning of 1983 to the end of 1990?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that in 1991, after the Reagan rate cuts were well in place, the top 1% of taxpayers in income paid 25% of all income taxes; the top 5% paid 43%; the bottom 50% paid only 5%; and, to suggest that this distribution is unfair because it is too easy on upper-income groups is nothing less than absurd?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that the proportion of total income taxes paid by the top 1% rose sharply under Reagan, from 18% in 1981 to 28% in 1988?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, average effective income tax rates were cut even more for lower-income groups than for higher-income groups and that while the average effective tax rate for the top 1% fell by 30% between 1980 and 1992, and by 35% for the top 20% of income earners, it fell by 44% for the second-highest quintile, 46% for the middle quintile, 64% for the second-lowest quintile, and 263% for the bottom quintile?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that these reductions for the lowest-income groups were so large because Reagan doubled the personal exemption, increased the standard deduction, and tripled the EITC, which provided net cash for single-parent families with children at the lowest income levels and those changes eliminated income tax liability altogether for over 4 million lower-income families?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that, for the TOP 1% of taxpayers, the TAX BURDEN INCREASED from 12.9% in 1980 to 15.4% in 1989?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that, for the TOP 5% of taxpayers, the TAX BURDEN INCREASED from 27.3% in 1980 to 30.4% in 1989?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that, for the TOP 20% of taxpayers, the TAX BURDEN INCREASED from 56.1% in 1980 to 58.6% in 1989?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that, for the SECOND-HIGHEST 20% of taxpayers, the TAX BURDEN DECREASED from 22.2% in 1980 to 20.8% in 1989?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that, for the MIDDLE 20% of taxpayers, the TAX BURDEN DECREASED from 13.2% in 1980 to 12.5% in 1989?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that, for the SECOND-LOWEST 20% of taxpayers, the TAX BURDEN DECREASED from 6.9% in 1980 to 6.4% in 1989?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that, for the LOWEST 20% of taxpayers, the TAX BURDEN DECREASED from 1.6% in 1980 to 1.5% in 1989?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that Tip O’Neill and the Democrats never adopted ONE, SINGLE REAGAN BUDGET?

Further:

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that the national debt when Obama came into office was $10,628,881,485,510.23?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that the national debt on 14 February 2013 was $16,540,800,290,147.46?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that the national debt has increased by a staggering $5,913,923,241,234.38 – more than all Presidents between Washington and Clinton spent COMBINED and more than Bush spent in EIGHT YEARS?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that the national debt between 20 January 2009 and 14 February 2013 INCREASED by FIFTY-FIVE POINT SIXTY-FOUR PERCENT (55.64%)?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that the national debt held by the public when Obama came into office was $6,307,310,739,681.66?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that the national debt held by the public on 14 February 2013 was $11,684,037,184,012.31?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that the national debt held by the public has increased by a staggering $5,376,726,444,330.65 – more than all Presidents between Washington and Clinton spent COMBINED and more than Bush spent in EIGHT YEARS?

Is it not a FACT, JACK, that the national debt held by the public between 20 January 2009 and 14 February 2013 by EIGHTY-FIVE POINT TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT (85.25%) in 1,487 days?? 


When Obama can match Reagan for economic growth, then I’ll listen to your arguments. Until then, he is the most fiscally-irresponsible President in the history of the United States.