Time: Tax Cuts Don't Boost Revenue

Justin Fox penns an excellent piece for Time:

If there's one thing that Republican politicians agree on, it's that slashing taxes brings the government more money. "You cut taxes, and the tax revenues increase," President Bush said in a speech last year. Keeping taxes low, Vice President Dick Cheney explained in a recent interview, "does produce more revenue for the Federal Government." Presidential candidate John McCain declared in March that "tax cuts ... as we all know, increase revenues." His rival Rudy Giuliani couldn't agree more. "I know that reducing taxes produces more revenues," he intones in a new TV ad.

If there's one thing that economists agree on, it's that these claims are false.

Of course, what the world needs is something more than the occasional spot-on feature. What's needed is a world in which this information filters into daily coverage. If a politician gives a talk about economic policy whose central premise is false, this should be the story of the day. If a politician persists in saying things that aren't true, he should be branded a liar -- a "serial exaggerator," whatever -- a person possessed of a political strategy dependent on making false claims, and blessed or cursed with a character that lets him keep on doing it.