EXTENDING THE BUSH TAX CUTS IS THE WRONG WAY TO STIMULATE THE ECONOMY
The Bush tax cuts, which disproportionately benefited the wealthiest Americans, were justified with a series of claims about their economic effectiveness. Seven years after the first tax cuts were passed, the evidence is clear that these claims were false, and in reality, these tax cuts have been bad economic policy. They have done little to stimulate the economy. The economic expansion earlier in the Bush administration was one of the weakest on record, and the economy has once again fallen into recession. While having limited economic effect, the tax cuts led to massive increases in the national debt and created an enormous windfall for the very wealthiest Americans at the expense of the middle class and future generations. Making the Bush tax cuts permanent would compound these long-term structural problems while doing nothing to address the immediate problems of the economy.
