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CBO, JOINT TAX CONFIRM: TAX CUTS BEAT GOVERNMENT SPENDING 2:1

January 27, 2009 — Facts Are Stubborn Things   

CBO, JOINT TAX CONFIRM:
TAX CUTS BEAT GOVERNMENT SPENDING 2:1

BACKGROUND:
On January 26, 2009, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released its review of the spending in House Democrats’ proposed “economic stimulus” legislation.  This CBO review confirms what Republicans have been saying all along: The Democrat package won’t stimulate the economy NOW, when it needs it most.  The primary reasons: the Democrat plan relies too heavily on slow government spending initiatives, not tax cuts, to do the job.  As seen in the chart below, even the Democrat stimulus bill proves tax cuts impact families and the economy twice as fast as government spending. 

Percentage of tax cuts and government spending that reaches the economy under Democrat “stimulus” bill:

 

FACTS ABOUT THE DEMOCRAT PLAN:
• ONLY 15% of the $604 billion in spending is spent in 2009
• ONLY 53% of the $604 billion is spent in 2009 and 2010
• HALF of all proposed government spending won’t begin until 2011
• TAX CUTS get money to families, the economy faster than government spending

REPUBLICANS DIDN’T SAY IT, CBO DID:
• “Reductions in federal taxes [would] have most of their effects…in 2009 and 2010.”
• “Purchases of goods and services, either directly or in the form of grants to states and local government …would take several years to complete.”
• “CBO expects that the rate of spending in 2009 would be considerably slower than historical rates of spending”
• It will be “difficult to properly manage and oversee a rapid expansion of existing programs.”
• “[M]any of the larger projects initiated…would take up to 5-7 years to complete.

GOP DELIVERS TWICE THE TAX RELIEF IN 2009 & 2010:
Under the House Republican alternative, American families, workers and businesses will receive a total of $395 billion in tax relief in 2009 and 2010 – nearly twice the tax relief Democrats provide. 

Tax Relief (billions of dollars)

 
THE BOTTOM LINE:
The nonpartisan CBO confirms that tax cuts get more money into the hands of American families and our economy faster than government spending.  The American people know tax cuts are a better way to stimulate the economy than borrowing money from China just to increase federal spending and raise the federal deficit.  If the Speaker was interested in answering the President’s call to reach a bipartisan, American solution to this crisis, she would work with Republicans to increase tax relief for every working American—which is what the Republican alternative does.

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SUBCOMMITTEE: Full Committee