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Andy McCarthy writes, "We know that lowering marginal tax rates can increase federal revenue, but it’s clear that the President won’t cut taxes." MatT Yglesias replies, and touches on something I've long wondered as well:
Every time I read this kind of thing I wonder: Why on earth does McCarthy think that Obama is stubbornly refusing to cut taxes when doing so would raise revenues? Tax cuts are broadly popular, and with the increased revenue Obama could reward his supporters in the public employees’ unions. Shouldn’t AFSCME, NEA, and AFT be constantly clamoring for lower taxes and higher revenues? I mean, how stupid are we supposed to believe Democrats to be? They’re just all in the pocket of big accountant, I guess.Presumably conservatives don't believe liberals have a principled objection to increased federal revenue (which does, after all, permit larger federal programs, and greater governmental intrusion into private life, which, for liberals, of course equals Win!). So set aside Matt's snark. What's McCarthy's explanation for why Democrats don't lower taxes? Does he think the divide between the parties is based solely on the liberal reluctance to adopt dynamic scoring in their revenue models? Is this all a methodological dispute?
