[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 8]
[House]
[Pages 11566-11567]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      WHAT WOULD RONALD REAGAN DO?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Virginia (Mr. Connolly) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Madam Speaker, this month, as American 
families and businesses anxiously await Congress' action on the 
expiration of any number of tax cuts, I thought it would be a good idea 
to ask ourselves again that question: What would Ronald Reagan do? 
Let's query the Gipper. After all, for the past 3 years all we've heard 
from Republicans is the claim that President Obama taxes too much.
  When the Tea Party started its lobbying efforts in 2009, their name 
``tea'' actually was an acronym standing for ``taxed enough already.'' 
So just like the Republican Party, the Tea Party expressed an 
apoplectic furor about what they thought was happening to taxes.
  But while blind conjecture and pithy slogans are useful in getting 
attention, they ultimately fail unless they're backed by facts. 
Thankfully, the nonpartisan Congress Budget Office recently came out 
with its comparison of the average Federal tax rates paid by American 
families over the past 31 years. I'm sure Republicans and the Tea Party 
were all as surprised as many of us to learn that since 1979 Americans 
paid the lowest average Federal rate in 2009 under President Obama. 
That's right. Thanks in large part to the Recovery Act's $243 billion 
in middle class tax cuts--which my friends on the other side of the 
aisle opposed to a person--the average Federal tax rate fell to a 31-
year low.
  The average Federal rate since 1979 is 21 percent--meaning that, on 
average over the past 31 years, Americans paid 21 percent of their 
yearly income to the Federal Government each April. The previous low 
for the past 31 years was 18 percent. But in 2009, President Obama's 
first year in office, the average Federal tax rate actually fell to 
17.4 percent, the lowest since 1979 when Jimmy Carter was in the White 
House. That means a lower percentage of taxes paid than under Bill 
Clinton, lower taxes than under both of the two George Bushes, and, 
yes, a lower average Federal tax rate than under the Gipper, Ronald 
Reagan.
  Throughout President Reagan's 8 years in office, the average Federal 
tax rate was 20.9 percent, never dropping below 20.2. In contrast, in 
his first year, the average rate under President Obama was 17.4. In 
other words, after taking into account all the tax breaks and tax 
loopholes--especially the Recovery Act's Making Work Pay tax cut--
Americans, in 2009, paid 2.8 percent less of their income to the 
Federal Government than they paid during Ronald Reagan's best year. 
Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Bill Clinton, the other George Bush, and 
President Obama. By far, President Obama has the lowest tax rates.
  Perhaps if the average Federal tax rate under President Obama was as 
high as those during President Clinton's second term, then maybe 
Republicans would have a better argument. Of course, President 
Clinton's second term also saw significant job growth and expanding 
economy, and the only Federal budget surpluses since 1969--four in a 
row. But to complain about Federal deficits and then immediately call 
for cutting taxes on the highest income brackets--even lower than the 
current 31-year low under President Obama--shows significant hypocrisy 
or a lack of basic addition and subtraction skills.
  So as today's Republicans try to spin a tax fairy tale, where the 
lowest Federal tax rate in 31 years under President Obama is somehow 
too high, while ignoring the higher rates through the eighties and 
nineties, perhaps it's time once again to ask: What would Ronald Reagan 
have done?
  Republicans, even those who profess to idolize President Reagan, of 
course, won't ask because they don't want to hear the answer. Following 
the significant initial tax cuts in 1981, President Reagan subsequently 
signed into law a host of taxes to try to bring the budget back into 
balance. Five times he raised taxes in his 8 years.
  Madam Speaker, as Congress debates the extension of the current tax 
burden, comprehensive tax reform, and overall budget deficits, I again 
feel

[[Page 11567]]

compelled to ask my colleagues: What would Ronald Reagan do?

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