Our next Herbert Hoover

As with its anti-environmental policies, the economic policies of the Bush administration are also short-sighted, its tax cuts benefitting mostly the very rich, while its effects on the rest of the economy are disastrous. A New York Times editorial today (Dec. 12) comments on the $700 billion swing from a federal surplus to deficit under Bush: "The president's fiscal policies, mainly high-end tax cuts, have resulted in a record federal budget deficit without spurring hiring or income growth. If Mr. Bush continues on the tax-cut path, continuing high deficits will further threaten job creation and living standards." It also points out:

"The main reason for the crippling discrepancy is that the tax cuts were mostly handed out where they did the least good - that is, lavished on the people least likely to spend the largess. The reduction in the tax rates, the largest of Mr. Bush's tax boons, provided only 59 cents of economic stimulus for every dollar of lost tax revenue. The tax cut for dividends and capital gains produced 9 cents of stimulus for every forgone dollar. "

For the text of the editorial, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/12/opinion/12thu1.html