Gregory Scolds Bachmann for Listening to Public Opinion on Debt Ceiling
It appears David Gregory is a bit confused about how our system of government works.
During intense questioning of Congresswoman Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) on Sunday's "Meet the Press," the host scolded his guest for having the nerve to actually care what the American people thought about raising the debt ceiling (video follows with transcript and commentary):
DAVID GREGORY, HOST: Let me ask you about the debt ceiling. You were adamantly opposed to raising the debt ceiling. You voted against that.
REPRESENTATIVE MICHELE BACHMANN (R-MINNESOTA): Mm-hmm.
MR. GREGORY: And there's a lot of people who said that was an incredibly reckless thing to do for our economy.
REP. BACHMANN: Oh, hardly, hardly.
MR. GREGORY: But, wait...
REP. BACHMANN: Yeah.
MR. GREGORY: ...let me just, let me just take you through it. It wasn't just the president of the United States, it was also the chairman of the Federal Reserve, it was the Treasury secretary, it was your entire...
REP. BACHMANN: And they've done such a smashing job for us, haven't they?
MR. GREGORY: Well, if I can just finish the question. The entire Republican leadership thought that was the wrong thing to do. Major members of the business community in this country thought that was the wrong thing to do. Why should we trust your judgment that that was the right thing to do and not a reckless act...
REP. BACHMANN: Because...
MR. GREGORY: ...on the part of a congresswoman?
"Why should we trust your judgment that that was the right thing to do and not a reckless act on the part of a congresswoman?"
Before we get to Bachmann's answer, can you imagine Gregory or any member of the mainstream media asking this question of former Senator Hillary Clinton when she was running for president?
Or such a question being asked about votes made by other high-profile Democrat women such as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), or Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.)?
But I digress:
REP. BACHMANN: It's a great question you're asking, a fantastic question. Because that's the judgment of the people of this country. The people of this country would love to weigh in, and they would love to say, "Tim Geithner, Treasury secretary, you're wrong. Mr. President, you're wrong." And that's what we...
MR. GREGORY: But this is why we have elected representatives, Congresswoman...
REP. BACHMANN: That's, that's really, that's really...
MR. GREGORY: ...who actually know the true financial impact of a step like this. Maybe people are against raising the debt ceiling, but the reality is, bipartisan agreement, in the business community saying you don't do that, you don't mess with the full faith and credit of the United States. Would you have voted the same way...
REP. BACHMANN: That's right, that's exactly right.
MR. GREGORY: ...if you were the deciding vote?
Actually, we have elected representatives to go to Washington and carry out the wishes of their constituents whenever it's possible.
In this instance, the public as measured by a July 12 Gallup poll were strongly opposed to raising the debt ceiling. Such people didn't want the United States to default on its debt. They instead rightly believed there were ample revenues coming in from tax receipts in August to pay the interest on all of our outstanding treasury paper.
As such, folks like Bachmann that were against raising the debt ceiling were indeed carrying out the wishes of their constituents without being anywhere near as reckless as the administration and their shills in the media claimed.
On top of this, Gregory is certainly no one to point fingers about knowing the "true financial impact" of not raising the debt ceiling as he completely negected to determine that for his viewers when he interviewed treasury secretary Timothy Geithner in July.
Maybe if the "Meet the Press" host had grilled Geithner with the same intensity he did Bachmann, the nation would have been far better informed of the "true financial impact" of such a move:
REP. BACHMANN: That's right, you don't mess with the full faith and credit of the United States. That's why I introduced the bill that I did that would have prevented any form of default. It's President Obama who failed to put any sort of a plan forward. That's what led to uncertainty. I was at another business here in, in west Des Moines, Competitive Edge, and, and the owner of that company told me that their problem right now is, again, uncertainty and the fact that they didn't know what was going to happen with interest rates, they don't know what's going to happen with Obamacare, and so they're on hold right now for hiring. The president is not sending the right signals. And again, let me just answer your question because you said, well, all the people in Washington said we had to raise the debt ceiling, all the people out in America said don't raise the debt ceiling. That's the problem with Washington.
MR. GREGORY: Right. But, but why does that make it...
REP. BACHMANN: They're not listening to the people.
MR. GREGORY: ...why does it make it the right thing to do? I mean...
REP. BACHMANN: Well, because, because, because representatives are supposed to represent the people that they serve. The people that they're serving are saying, "You guys don't have it figured out. Stop spending money you don't have."
MR. GREGORY: But so public opinion will be the sole determinant of how you vote on a particular issue?
She didn't say it would be the sole determinant, but the wishes of constituents should certainly be a factor in how an elected official votes.
Unfortunately since the Democrats took over Congress in 2007 and the White House in 2009, the Left and their media minions have gotten used to their representatives doing whatever they want with total disregard for public opinion.
Now that some folks on the right are once again paying attention to the voters, Gregory and his colleagues think it's "reckless."
Quite the contrary, what has been reckless for the past four years is Democrats passing bill after bill with far greater support from the press than the citizenry. That started to change this January, and people like Gregory can't stand it.
Of course doing the public's bidding will surely come back in vogue the second it's once again on the side of the Left.
Funny how the public is only important when their views mesh nicely with those of so-called journalists.
When this isn't the case, these very same citizens become immediately labeled as uninformed and reckless.
It's always quite a treat to watch the intellectual capacity of the average American quickly skyrocket when he or she agrees with the prevailing liberal view.
- Noel Sheppard's blog
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Comments
Bachmann also did a nifty bit
Submitted by balboa on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 9:40pm.
Bachmann also did a nifty bit of tap-dancing when Gregory asked her about gay marriage and homosexuality. It was like watching Gregory Hines.
Greg Hines
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 9:47pm.
I didn't know Hines was gay, Didn't know he was dead either.
Thanks, bal.
How so?
Submitted by bkeyser on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 9:47pm.
`
WTH does homosexuals have to
Submitted by Dan Diego on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 9:52pm.
WTH does homosexuals have to do w/ the debt ceiling debate?
→ Don't know, Diego
Submitted by Cool Arrow on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 10:13pm.
Near as I can figure, bal is trying to imply men who wear tap shoes are homosexual.
And obama, reid and pelosi
Submitted by LAM SON 719 on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 11:42pm.
And obama, reid and pelosi give straight answers?
"But so public opinion will
Submitted by Dan Diego on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 9:47pm.
"But so public opinion will be the sole determinant of how you vote on a particular issue?" - Curious George
They sure wanted it to be
Submitted by Dave81 on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 2:29pm.
They sure wanted it to be when they were touting polls showing that a majority of Americans supported increasing taxes on the rich. It's only when public opinion opposes the media's agenda that they don't like it.
Yep. Caught it this a.m.
Submitted by krendler on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 9:51pm.
Yep. Caught it this a.m. Gregory had his scripted, filibuster-ish questions ready to go and was annoyed when Bachmann started to answer before he had gotten all his Dem talking points out ("Please let me finish!!!"). I kept waiting for Bachmann to say "Is there a question in there somewhere?" Then, when Bachmann finally had a chance to speak, Gregory didn't like what he was hearing/seeing (she was composed, polite, and thoughtful) and immediately interrupted her. MTP is a complete joke. Can't wait to see them go after Romney and Perry, and then contrast it to the softballs they toss to the Dem spokespeople.
Bachmann is doing very well in these interviews
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 10:21pm.
I prefer her interview style so much more than her "stump" and talking point style (which she relied on too much in the debates).
When she speaks slowly, and sincerely, she is totally believable, which makes the media meme of wild-eyed crazy with rage just vanish in a wisp of smoke.
I have to say, as the fashion police, I saw her in a couple of clips today, and the woman knows how to dress. She was impeccable today. And in the debate. (I'm just now starting to pay attention to that).
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
OH THE HORROR
Submitted by wahappened on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 9:53pm.
of Self governance!!!
I really hate to tell you, comrade Gregory...
Submitted by Dave. on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 10:01pm.
...(and yes, I am actually calling you a stinking commie puke), but we-the-people still run this country, not you, the mindless Marxist government worshiping twits.
Learn it, know it, and live it, you worthless pinko jerkwad wussy.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
'If I can just finish this
Submitted by killa37 on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 9:58pm.
'If I can just finish this question'???? Hey BaboonFace...........it didn't sound like a 'question' to me.........it sounded like some kind of lecture. Why have Bachmann on your show, if you're just going to sit there and tell her what YOU think she should have done?
Wouldn't it be great
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 10:23pm.
....if any (and all) conservative(s) replied with the following to a filibusterish/lecturing question:
Oh, is there a question in that liberal talking point lecture, Mr. X? In exactly the tone of voice Bachmann used on Dancing Dicky. It would be perfect.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Lectures
Submitted by Chris Norman on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 12:53am.
Gregory must have gone to "Bill O'Reilly College of TV News Interviewing Style". :)
Bachmann n Gregory
Submitted by Bob T on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 9:59pm.
I saw that and Gregory was so out classed and out smarted I almost felt sorry for him. She made sure she got to answer and made him look like a spoiled brat. I still await the conservative who in return for the religion question ask "Why do the main stream media wing and other wings of the Democrat party hate God so?
Just as a sanity check...
Submitted by Grumpy in Arizona on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 10:02pm.
... I turned off the computer after reading and listening to that exchange. I went outside to see if the sun had set (it hasn't yet) and came back inside to see if I had any beer left in the refridgerator.
I can now report some BREAKING NEWS: We are still on planet Earth (as far as I can determine)! Where Gregory is... is a case foreither Astrophysicists’ or Gypsy Tea Readers.
- Grump :o)
You make a valid point Noel
Submitted by Reaver on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 10:14pm.
You make a valid point Noel if Gregory could have found a poll somewhere that showed that a majority of Americans were in favor of raising the debt ceiling the question would have been “Why are you going against the wishes of the American people?” Since there is no such poll the question becomes “Why does that make it the right thing to do?” and “Will public opinion be the sole determinant of how you vote on a particular issue?” I recognize this game it’s called heads I win, tails you lose.
Really
Submitted by topdog729 on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 10:15pm.
Did this clown really say that at the end?????
How shameful of michelle to listen to her constituents. That s just un-american!
On a futher note
Submitted by topdog729 on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 10:49pm.
He addresses her as Representative UMMM DAVE you obama anus licking twit, She was representing!
The funniest part of this exchange was ...
Submitted by Fredy on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 11:02pm.
That Gregory actually thinks HE is SMARTER than the 'American People'!
What a total jerk Gregory made of himself on this fine Sunday morning.
Gregory
Submitted by PJRyan on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 11:06pm.
The arrogance of Gregory to be a condescending a'hole to a true public servant with conviction to an actual plan. What would have happened to the "full faith and credit" if the administration's "plan" to do nothing more than get an increase had come to fruition?
"And they've done such a smashing job for us, haven't they?"
"It's President Obama who failed to put any sort of a plan forward. That's what led to uncertainty."
Gregory played right into Bachmann's hands
Submitted by Galvanic on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 9:27am.
By confronting her with the DNC talking points, Meet the Press essentially turned into an info-merical for Bachmann, and she acquitted herself well.
When Gregory established that Bachmann opposes the alleged wisdom of Geithner and Bernanke on the debt ceiling and taxes, it strengthens her position. Afterall, even Bernanke conceded weeks ago that the Fed doesn't understand why the economy isn't recovering faster.
The icing on the cake came when Gregory asked if she was going to base her votes on public opinion, her answer was perfect and sounded very Constitutional. Afterall, she represents her constituency, just as 434 other Representatives do theirs.
The only opportunity she missed was when Gregory suggested that she almost brought down the economy with her No vote on raising the debt ceiling. Had she responded by noting that more Dems voted against it in the House than Republicans, and named some of those Dems, Gregory's whole line of reasoning would've jumped the track.
When
Submitted by Tjexcite on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 11:10pm.
When is the whole square of Washington DC going to grow 300 feet high to be nothing but a tower of Ivory. The when they look down there noses at the little people and say. You sent us here to do something and we will do the exact opposite because you are to stupid to know what is good for you.
QUIZ: How much is our national debt? If you said $14 Trillion,
Submitted by Rush Fan on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 12:04am.
you're not even close. According to Prof. Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Professor of Economics at Boston University, our real debt obligation is $211 Trillion!
Prof. Kotlikoff, who served as a senior economist on President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers, also is a columnist for Bloomberg and Forbes. He was interviewed by NPR last week. Here is a portion of the AUDIO where he discusses our true $211 Trillion debt, based on Congressional Budget Office figures. Here is the accompanying NPR article titled A National Debt Of $14 Trillion? Try $211 Trillion.
If Prof. Kotlikoff is correct, our long term debt obligation is enormous, and our promises to current and future generations is, as he describes it, a "massive Ponzi Scheme".
As for David Gregory, Noel and NewsBusters will be documenting Gregory's predictable bias until he retires or the Earth comes to an end, whichever comes first.
---------------------- ----------Recommended Links----------
Prof, Kutlikoff's website and list of Op-eds.
Bloomberg column titled Generational Balance, Not Budget Balance: Laurence Kotlikoff
Laurence Kotlikoff - VIDEO The U.S. is Broke
And how did we get there?
Submitted by TheHistorian on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 9:52am.
George W Bush? Don't make me laugh. It has been every liberal program and progressive dream that has put us here. It certainly wasn't limited government. Libs, take a bow. You have screwed the greatest nation on earth, turning it into Zimbabwe.
Dennis Prager
I couldn't agree with you more that Liberals have decimated the
Submitted by Rush Fan on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 6:50pm.
fabric of our society, both moral and economic.
Glad to see your a fan of Dennis Prager, one of my favorite talk radio hosts.
That's even worse than my $132 trillion debt calculation
Submitted by Dave. on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 6:58pm.
Gulp.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Mr. Gregory, when the rubber hit the road,
Submitted by Quasi-socialist on Sun, 08/14/2011 - 11:45pm.
what did Moody's think of the plan that I voted against? Wouldn't it have been better to get a plan that would do better to answer the concerns about our credit rating?
How Republican leaders and
Submitted by Rusty Shackleford on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 12:27am.
How Republican leaders and conservative advocates can allow themselves to be interviewed by imbeciles without figuratively taking them by the scruff of the neck and making them sniff the sh*t they've done to this country is a complete mystery to me. People like Gregory should be belittled in these interviews because they don't have the intellectual honesty and capabilities to formulate sensible views on how to govern this nation properly. It's time to take off the kid gloves.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Matthews: The Joy Behar of MSNBC.
Bill Maher: The Joy Behar of HBO.
Paul Krugman: The Joy Behar of The New York Times.
David, David....must be the forelock.....
Submitted by Herbster on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 1:14am.
Little David's grasp of how CONSTITUTIONAL government - and basic economics - is pitiful. As an aside, have you been following the ratings of this travesty of a Sunday show? In the toilet. He thinks he's another Tim Russert. Let me tell you, Little David, I knew Tim Russert, and David, you sure as Hell are not another Tim Russert! Little David's stock in trade for questions always start out......."Back in 1974, you said......." What a twit. Bachmann ate his lunch....cool, lucid....factual. Little David got very testy while trying to (Remember?) all the White House talking points. I'll be polite here. The man is a lightweight. He was totally outclassed today - as he is on most Sundays.
The media will now go after Bachmann, Perry and Romney with a vengeance. Here's a sample of what's coming: Did you know that none of the three were born in this country? They are all alchololic drug users? Each has murdered at least three people and had them buried in the cement used on a "Shovel ready" job in their respective states. All their children are illegitimate. They were seen ganging up on a minority person in an Iowa biker bar. Perry and Romney were seen together at a gay bar.....Bachmann was the lookout. All these statements will soon appear in the New York Times citing anonymous sources. We need two things in our country if we are to grow again into greatness......an HONEST media and TERM LIMITS!
The future will surely triumph over the perpetual yesterday.
Baboon face....LMAO, it fits this clown perfectly.
Submitted by richard on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 1:30am.
Gregory demonstrated the liberal (yes, I used liberal, rather than the new hip term, progressive) water carrying jagoff fool that he is, while trying to rattle Bachmann with inane questions about religion and homos, which mean nothing toward her ability to be a good president. MTP should be renamed Meet the Enemy, when it comes to Republicans being interviewed, because that is how they are treated by baboon face (sorry, I couldn't help myself from stealing that one).
After Gregory gave Bachmann the prefunctory, "Thank you for being here," I would have loved to hear her to say to him, "I wish I could say the same to you."
It would have been neat if she had a wallet sized picture of Obama with her that she could have set him up with, "Here David, I brought you a little present to keep in your wallet, so you won't ever have to be so far away from your best friend."
It's OK, richard............I
Submitted by killa37 on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 1:39am.
It's OK, richard............I usually don't get too wrapped up on somebody's looks, unless they've got the attitude and the agenda that somehow matches their physical characteristics...........and then it gets really easy!!!
Monkey Boy Gregory, Liberal Waterboy
Submitted by Motormouth KOS on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 7:11am.
Is it just me, or does this moron look like the missing link with his ape-like noggin?
I think she more than held her own under the onslaught of questions that were designed to paint her as a religious nut. Funny, I can't remember Hillary ever getting these kinds of questions. Only conservative women.
The funniest question had to be when he referred to "Geithner and other 'experts' asseeing the debt-ceiling issue as catastrophic..."
Turbotax Tim? That gerbil could spell cat if you spotted him the c and the a.
Ms. Bachmann, I give you an A+
The Obamination... A crisis leading to a catastrophe..(please donate to MRC)
He is so freaking stupid it boggles the mind.
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 9:34am.
So, you mean you're going to do what the people that elected you want you to do? How is that? I am shocked? I mean look around and see how well our faith in government has rewarded us.
Are you really that dumb or such a hack partisan a-hole, that you cannot let the truth out unless it's alined with your failed and failing ideologies?
Obviously the liberals know they're losing the war...
Submitted by Bill Brasky on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 9:51am.
Based on how upset David Gregory gets these days. Laughable liberal garbage TV.
Diesel: "Mr. Gregory, a lot
Submitted by Diesel on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 10:00am.
Diesel: "Mr. Gregory, a lot of people are saying that you do sick & perverted things with gerbils....."
David Gregory: "B-b-but I-I-I..........."
Diesel: "Let me finish Davey, then you may speak"
This is how it works? Do I have that about right?
Little Geraldo is such a
Submitted by frank14 on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 10:35am.
Little Geraldo is such a mental lightweight. You could tell he was mad because Michele interrupted his TelePrompTer reading of Media Matters talking points. He is an embarrassment to journalism.
"And.......
Submitted by almostacowboy on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 10:44am.
they've done such a smashing job for us, haven't they?" Good one!
Can't wait until he tries
Submitted by marpel on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 10:49am.
Can't wait until he tries that liberal crap with Rick Perry. He won't be as tolerant as W was with him...Can't wait, can't wait!!
"Deep within my heart lies a memory. A song of ol' San Antone..."
Very simply Gregory - most in the media = a stupid turd.
Submitted by russedav on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 11:20am.
Very simply Gregory - most in the media = a stupid turd.
Now how do you pick him up by the clean end?
He just came off as a jerk, in my opinion, but the
Submitted by Lipton on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 11:33am.
problem is that liberals have confined themselves to being the world's largest clique so they probably see nothing wrong with how he questioned her, especially when you compare them to the all too clever (overused) "Faux News".
Interesting comment.
Submitted by E.S.Blofeld on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 12:56pm.
"Actually, we have elected representatives to go to Washington and carry out the wishes of their constituents whenever it's possible."
One could say if the majority of constituents wanted their elected official to vote on a particular piece of legislation then what could be wrong with it passing and being the law of the land? If the rhetoric is wrong what harm could become of it? I wonder how many constituents actually understand the complicated points of the US economy and how it pertains to the rest of the world. What would China have said if we defaulted and left their economy in a shambles? I guess the local WalMart would close up and people would have to get their 5 gallon jars of mayonnaise at the 7-11. Well, maybe just the 8oz portion at the same price.
Ernst
"Isn't it pretty to think that way?"-EH
For the gay Q
Submitted by bobbys on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 2:42pm.
For the , I'm going to find a "gotcha" Q about gays to paint you as a anti gay she should have just replied with...
Its above my pay grade
Gregory
Submitted by PrimalElements on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 3:17pm.
This fool should pledge never to quote another poll again then.
Gregory was just waiting for
Submitted by marpel on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 4:05pm.
Gregory was just waiting for the chance to "chew" Michele out. That way, he'll have a good seat at the next liberal's dinner party.
"Deep within my heart lies a memory. A song of ol' San Antone..."
Gregory's agenda giveaway
Submitted by 4Deuce on Mon, 08/15/2011 - 5:09pm.
So, Gregory has reduced MTP to a Katie Couric carnival show, huh?.
Any hack who initiates an interview with that soory old "I have an agenda to push" statement like: "Some people say.... (fill in any unsubstantiated allegation you wish here...) aptly demonstrates to all that he/she has entered the interview as an advesary and not as any sort of objective interviewer.
Gregory should wear a Democratic Party donkey lapel pin on the show. His idea of objectivity is not calling a conservative guest a "criminal".
tax cuts created the deficit
Submitted by hayate1 on Wed, 08/17/2011 - 4:03am.
Economists, including numerous Bush advisers, reject claim that previous tax cuts have increased revenues
Time: "Tax Cuts Don't Boost Revenues." In a December 6, 2007 article titled, "Tax Cuts Don't Boost Revenues," Time magazine noted that "economists agree" that the Republican talking point that tax cuts raise revenues is "false":
If there's one thing that Republican politicians agree on, it's that slashing taxes brings the government more money. "You cut taxes, and the tax revenues increase," President Bush said in a speech last year. Keeping taxes low, Vice President Dick Cheney explained in a recent interview, "does produce more revenue for the Federal Government." Presidential candidate John McCain declared in March that "tax cuts ... as we all know, increase revenues." His rival Rudy Giuliani couldn't agree more. "I know that reducing taxes produces more revenues," he intones in a new TV ad.
If there's one thing that economists agree on, it's that these claims are false. We're not talking just ivory-tower lefties. Virtually every economics Ph.D. who has worked in a prominent role in the Bush Administration acknowledges that the tax cuts enacted during the past six years have not paid for themselves--and were never intended to. Harvard professor Greg Mankiw, chairman of Bush's Council of Economic Advisers from 2003 to 2005, even devotes a section of his best-selling economics textbook to debunking the claim that tax cuts increase revenues.
Bush CEA chair Mankiw: Claim that broad-based income tax cuts increase revenue is not "credible." Economist Greg Mankiw, who also served as chair of the Bush CEA wrote on July 2, 2007:
I used the phrase "charlatans and cranks" in the first edition of my principles textbook to describe some of the economic advisers to Ronald Reagan, who told him that broad-based income tax cuts would have such large supply-side effects that the tax cuts would raise tax revenue. I did not find such a claim credible, based on the available evidence. I never have, and I still don't.
[...]
My other work has remained consistent with this view. In a paper on dynamic scoring, written while I was working at the White House, Matthew Weinzierl and I estimated that a broad-based income tax cut (applying to both capital and labor income) would recoup only about a quarter of the lost revenue through supply-side growth effects. For a cut in capital income taxes, the feedback is larger--about 50 percent--but still well under 100 percent. A chapter on dynamic scoring in the 2004 Economic Report of the President says about the the [sic] same thing.
Reagan economist Feldstein: "It's not that you get more revenue by lowering tax rates, it is that you don't lose as much." The New York Times reported on March 26, 2008:
While Mr. Laffer insists that tax revenue will rise when tax rates are cut, other supply-siders are less categorical. Martin Feldstein, a Harvard economist who was the first chairman of President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers and now supports Senator McCain, estimates that a 10 percent tax cut would in fact reduce tax revenue -- but only by 3 to 5 percent.
"It is not that you get more revenue by lowering tax rates, it is that you don't lose as much," he said.
Feldstein also reportedly wrote in 1986 that "[t]he height of the supply-side hyperbole was the 'Laffer curve' proposition that the tax cut would actually increase tax revenue because it would unleash an enormously depressed supply of effort. ... I have no doubt that the loose talk of the supply-side extremists gave fundamentally good policies a bad name and led to quantitative mistakes that not only contributed to subsequent budget deficits, but also made it more difficult to modify policy when those deficits became apparent."
Former Bush chief economist to CEA Samwick: "You know that tax cuts have not fueled record revenues." In a January 2007 "New Year's Plea," to "anyone in the [Bush] Administration who may read this blog," Andrew Samwick, an economics professor at Dartmouth College and former chief economist to the Council of Economic Advisers during the Bush administration, wrote:
You are smart people. You know that the tax cuts have not fueled record revenues. You know what it takes to establish causality. You know that the first order effect of cutting taxes is to lower tax revenues. We all agree that the ultimate reduction in tax revenues can be less than this first order effect, because lower tax rates encourage greater economic activity and thus expand the tax base. No thoughtful person believes that this possible offset more than compensated for the first effect for these tax cuts. Not a single one.
FactCheck.org: Revenue would have been higher without Bush tax cuts. FactCheck.org concluded on June 11, 2007, that "it is clear" the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 "did not 'increase revenues'" as Sen. John McCain had claimed. The post further stated: "The Congressional Budget Office, the Treasury Department, the Joint Committee on Taxation, the White House's Council of Economic Advisers and a former Bush administration economist all say that tax cuts lead to revenues that are lower than they otherwise would have been - even if they spur some economic growth."
Former Bush economist: "[N]o dispute among economists" that Bush tax cuts reduced revenue. The Washington Post reported on October 17, 2006:
"Federal revenue is lower today than it would have been without the tax cuts. There's really no dispute among economists about that," said Alan D. Viard, a former Bush White House economist now at the nonpartisan American Enterprise Institute. "It's logically possible" that a tax cut could spur sufficient economic growth to pay for itself, Viard said. "But there's no evidence that these tax cuts would come anywhere close to that."
Krugman: After Reagan's 1981 tax cuts, "revenues are permanently reduced relative to what they would otherwise have been." Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman wrote on July 15 that "the revenue track under Reagan looks a lot like the track under Bush: a drop in revenues, then a resumption of growth, but no return to the previous trend." He added, "This is exactly what you would expect to see if supply-side economics were just plain wrong: revenues are permanently reduced relative to what they would otherwise have been."
Clinton economist: Reagan tax cuts and Bush tax cuts "contributed to record US budget deficits." Harvard economist and former Clinton economic advisor Jeffrey Frankel wrote in 2008 that cuts in federal income tax rates "reduces revenue ... this was the outcome of the two big experiments of recent decades: the Reagan tax cuts of 1981-83 and the Bush tax cuts of 2001-03, both of which contributed to record US budget deficits." Frankel added that this is "the view of almost all professional economists, including the illustrious economic advisers to Presidents Reagan and Bush."
"Facts are not decided by how many people believe them. Truth is not determined by how loudly it is shouted."