The lie about Bush's "failed economic policies"

During tonight's debate and for the rest of the campaign, you'll hear the Obama campaign warn that Mitt Romney wants to "take us back to the failed policies of the Bush years."  

But were President Bush's policies really a failure?  Did the economy not grow? Did we have high unemployment?  Did the rich not pay their "fair share"?  Here are a few facts about those "failed" policies of President Bush:

Did the economy grow during the Bush years?  Yes.  President Bush and a Republican-controlled Congress passed two rounds of tax cuts - in 2001 and in 2003.  The first occurred just before 9/11/01 and may've blunted the economic damage wrought by that tragedy.  And when combined with the second round of cuts, the economy did grow:

• Under George Bush, from 2001 through 2007, the economy grew for 24 consecutive quarters.  That's six full years.  
• The economy grew at a rapid pace of 7.5 percent above inflation during the third quarter of 2003 – the highest in any quarter since 1984. 
• Under President Obama, the economy has never had quarterly growth as high as any of the THREE highest-growth quarters under President Bush (in 2003, 2005, and 2006)

Didn't President Bush give us high unemployment?  Actually, unemployment under George Bush was NEVER as bad as it has been for the ENTIRE presidency of Barack Obama.  A picture's worth a thousand words, as seen in this monthly graph of unemployment since the start of 2001.

But didn't President Bush deprive the Federal government of needed revenue?  Actually, no.  After the second round of Bush tax cuts, the federal government took in MORE money:

• The federal government saw record tax revenues each year in 2005, 2006, and 2007.
• Between 2004 and 2006, capital gains realizations grew by approximately 60 percent.  
• Corporate income tax receipts nearly doubled between 2004 and 2007.
• From 2004 to 2007, federal tax revenues increased by $785 billion, the largest four-year increase in American history. 

But isn't it unfair that President Bush just cut taxes for the rich?  Actually, that's not true.  President Bush cut taxes for everyone.  And President Bush's tax relief shifted a larger share of the individual income taxes paid to higher-income taxpayers:

• The President's tax relief reduced the share of taxes paid by the bottom 50 percent of taxpayers from 3.9 percent in 2000 to 3.1 percent in 2005
• It also increased the share paid by the top 10 percent from 46.0 to 46.4 percent over that same period.
• The same trend holds if you compare tax burdens in 2003 with those in 2007 -- in each case, the rich paid a higher percentage and the bottom 50% paid a lower percentage.

But President Bush blew out the deficit!  President Bush gets no pass on that one.  In 2007, the federal deficit was $160 billion.  That's an awfully high number.  But in each of his four years in office, President Obama's deficit has been more than SIX TIMES that number, and this year alone the deficit is $1.1 trillion. 

The Punch Line.  That the Bush years didn't end well is a simple fact.  2008 was the worst year of  President Bush's term - in terms of economic growth, unemployment, and the deficit.  Note, however, that this was the only time in his office when he had to work with a Congress that was led (in both houses) by Democrats.  That's not an excuse for President Bush, but it shines light on the myth that Democrats (either the President or Congress) are in any way fiscally responsible.

Further, President Obama has used this poor conclusion to the Bush years as an excuse at every turn for his own failure to unleash the American economy.

Sources of information for this post:

• http://home.adelphi.edu/sbloch/deficits.html
• http://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2012/02/22/after-bush-tax-cuts-payments-by-wealthy-actually-increased/
• http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/bushrecord/factsheets/taxrelief.html
• http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp-growth
• http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/feb/3/bush-tax-cuts-boosted-federal-revenue/