There is a lot of persistent myths around about debt, deficit and taxes that are fueled by the GOP. One myth is that Obama is fiscally irresponsible and that his programs are creating unprecedented deficits. It’s true that the deficits are high, but it was caused by Bush’s tax cuts, Bush’s war, Bush’s recession and Bush’s bailouts. The Obama recovery has started turning the deficit around already:
The federal deficit is running significantly lower than it did last year, with the budget gap for the first half of fiscal 2010 down 8 percent over the same period a year ago, senior Obama administration officials said Monday.
The officials attributed the results to higher tax revenue and to lower spending than projected on bailing out the financial system. If the trend continues for the rest of the year, it would mean the annual deficit would be $1.3 trillion — about $300 billion less than the administration’s projection two months ago for 2010.
The recovery is still in its very early stages and still fragile. I hope the deficit peacocks don’t mess it up by insisting on spending cuts when the recovery is still uncertain.
A second persistent myth is that Republicans cut taxes while Democrats raise them.
In time for tax day, Citizen for Tax Justice releases a new fact sheet [pdf] on your federal tax bill for 2009. It’s good news, for 98% of working families.
According to a recent CBS News/New York Times poll, the vast majority of Americans do not perceive that they have received a tax cut from President Obama. Asked if the President “has already raised taxes this past year,” 53 percent of those polled said that the President has “kept taxes the same,” and 24 percent think that the President has “raised taxes.” A mere 12 percent believe that the President has cut their taxes.
This is an astonishing level of misunderstanding. The truth is that the major tax cuts enacted in the 2009 economic stimulus bill actually reduced federal income taxes for tax year 2009 for 98 percent of all working families and individuals. These tax cuts saved working families and individuals an average of $1,158 on the tax returns they will file by April 15. (The median tax cut was approximately $600.)
I know my family saw quite a substantial tax break this year and I think a lot of people are starting to realize they got a break as well.