In point of fact

from NewsLink, Vol. 4, No. 3, Spring 2000

For millions of middle-class families singled out for tax relief by Congress, the federal income tax burden is hundreds of dollars a year less than it was just four years ago. Yet the overall U.S. tax take from the economy is higher than at any time since World War II. The total U.S. government haul in taxes – income, corporate, capital gains, gasoline, excise taxes, telecommunications, payroll, and so on – amounts to about 20% of the nation's gross domestic product, more than at any time since 1944.
Curt Anderson, Associated Press, April 8, 2000.

Why does a nation that put men on the moon and presumes to lead the world in everything operate a Third World train system? The answer is that America doesn't need bullet trains, because it has airplanes and airfares that make it cheaper to fly from New York to L.A. If the U.S. is behind the times, it is in its need to view a national passenger train network as an icon of high civilization, with the same grim determination Stalin attached to rural electrification. Amtrak is about as reliable in its revenue predictions as Bolshevik five-year planners — and just as stubborn. Amtrak lost a record $916 million last year.
Nancy DeWolf Smith, Wall Street Journal, April 7, 2000.

Simply, supply-side

For now, many states are in the enviable position of being able to cut taxes and still take in more revenue than in past years. The reason, they say, is simple supply-side economics: Leaving more money in the hands of consumers and investors stimulates more personal and corporate income and, thus, tax revenue. “Despite moving ahead for five years with the most sustained tax cut in state history, the resurgence of the state economy has enabled us to simultaneously report continued revenue increases,” says Joe Conway of the New York state budget office. On top of last year's $1.5 billion surplus, his state is projecting $1.8 billion in excess funds this year.
Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor, April 5, 2000.

 

The recent budget revision proposal by Governor Gray Davis of California seeks to recognize the important contribution of teachers to the California economy by permanently excluding teachers from paying state personal income taxes. ... In a society where taxation is ideally supposed to be an equitable method for governments to obtain revenue, letting the government, be it state, local or federal, make subjective value judgments on taxation based on occupation will diminish the validity of the whole process. Public policy must be equitable for all its constituents. Anything less becomes something other than public policy. Sara Moreno, The Dismal Scientist, May 18, 2000.

 

Last year, for the first time, the poor were more likely than the rich to have their tax returns audited, new Internal Revenue Service data compiled by Syracuse University researchers show. Charles Rossotti, the commissioner of internal revenue, said the only reason audit rates had risen while the rates for wealthier taxpayers had declined was a mandate from the White House and Congress for close monitoring of the earned income credit.
David Cay Johnston, New York Times, April 16, 2000.

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