Romney, as Reagan Did, Has It Right on Cutting Taxes | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary

Romney, as Reagan Did, Has It Right on Cutting Taxes | Alan Reynolds | Cato Institute: Commentary: "Presidential candidate Mitt Romney wants to cut all marginal tax rates by 20%. Vice President Joe Biden, in the debate with Paul Ryan, emphatically repeated that, "it has never been done before."

Yet President Kennedy cut all tax rates by 22% in 1964, and President Reagan cut them by another 19% to 22% by mid-1983. The 1986 Tax Reform Act then cut the top rate to 28% in 1988-90."

"Aside from booms and busts, the individual income tax always brought in about 8% of GDP regardless whether the top tax rate was 91% or 28%."

"The reason individual tax revenues remained above 8% of GDP as top tax rates fell from 91% to 28% is that high-income taxpayers earn and report more income when marginal tax rates come down. Economists call this the "elasticity of taxable income," and the response is powerful in high tax brackets."

Election 2012: Let's Hear It for Cynicism | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary

Election 2012: Let's Hear It for Cynicism | Gene Healy | Cato Institute: Commentary: "As political scientist Colleen Shogan explains, all two-term presidents in the modem era have been plagued by some form of the "Sixth-Year Curse," characterized by "scandals, weakened political coalitions, and midterm electoral defeat.""