Today marks the 10th anniversary of former President George W. Bush signing into law his 2001 tax cuts (he passed a second round in 2003). While doing so, Bush promised prosperity and growth, but the nation got neither.
The cost of these budget-busting 2001 and 2003 tax cuts was, as estimated by Citizens for Tax Justice, roughly $2.5 trillion through 2010. But America didn’t have to go down this route of cutting taxes and hoping for growth to miraculously appear. There were other policy options available to policymakers.
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ThinkProgress, using data on various social spending projects from the National Priorities Project — which does these calculations for the cost of the Iraq and Afghan wars — has estimated ten other possible policies we could’ve paid for at the same $2.5 trillion price of the Bush tax cuts. While not all of these policies are currently performed by the federal government, they do represent an accurate calculation of the monetary tradeoffs, and each one individually would cost the same as the Bush tax cuts. Here are ten alternatives we could’ve pursued instead:
- Give 122.7 Million Children Low-Income Health Care Every Year For Ten Years
- Give 49.2 Million People Access To Low-Income Healthcare Every Year For Ten Years
- Provide 43.1 Million Students With Pell Grants Worth $5,500 Every Year For Ten Years
- Provide 31.5 Million Head Start Slots For Children Every Year For Ten Years
- Provide VA Care For 30.7 Million Military Veterans Every Year For Ten Years
- Provide 30.4 Million Scholarships For University Students Every Year For Ten Years
- Hire 4.19 Million Firefighters Every Year For Ten Years
- Hire 3.67 Million Elementary School Teachers Every Year For Ten Years
- Hire 3.6 Million Police Officers Every Year For Ten Years
- Retrofit 144.6 Million Households For Wind Power Every Year For Ten Years
- Retrofit 54.2 Million Households For Solar Photovoltaic Energy Every Year For Ten Years
More
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Let's add in the cost of two wars and what could have been done with all that money.
ReplyDeleteluckily, instead of paying for that CRAP thats listed, i got to keep some of MY OWN money. amazing what personal accountability will do!
ReplyDeleteWhy not double taxes on everybody so government can hand out gobs more so as to ensure no one does anything for themselves. Won't be long before the USofA will have an economy like Cuba's; no one left to tax ergo no money to pass out, thus everybody except the "leaders" will have nothing.
ReplyDeleteI would rather see "what we've had to give up due to well fare abuse and medicare fraud."
ReplyDeleteThinkprogress?
ReplyDeleteNow that's a real credible source.
Once again for the libtards....America doesn't have a tax revenue problem. America has a spending and job killing egulation problem.
You lefties get it yet?
How about we both increase taxes on the richest AND cut medicade, ss, and medicare. Think that will pass?
ReplyDeleteNo ss for anyone 40 or younger.
No additional medicare benefits (or other entitlements) if you are having kids while already on the system.
No future medicade for anyone 50 or younger.
And hike taxes for the rich back to CLinton years (we all were doing pretty good then weren't we?) while cutting capital gains taxes (reward investment)
and "T PAW" wants to give MORE tax breaks to the rich!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/06/patriotic-millionaires-bush-tax-cuts_n_871840.html