Supply Side Tax Cuts

Courtesy of The Rachel Maddow Show last evening:

In a post last week, I remarked that, "In the world of fiscal policy, you could have left the planet for a year and not missed a beat."  The post repeated my criticism, made frequently over the last 30 months, that there is a better way to deal with downturns than becoming mired in discussions of temporary, ad hoc stimulus plans.

But in the world of supply-side economics, you could have left the planet for much longer and not missed a beat.  The latest quote making the rounds is this one, from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell:

I've spent a lot of time in the middle of the "Starve the Beast" and "Supply Side Tax Cut" debates.  I formulated the Roth-Kemp tax cut in early 1977 and, after working to scale it back, helped pass it in 1981 as the Republican tax economist on the Senate Budget Committee.  I formulated the Earned Income Tax Credit in 1975 and have worked for Democrats too.  I hold myself out as a non-partisan Washington economist.  My main goal all along has been to improve tax and budget policy.  I won't claim much success, but I would offer some observations.