Among the myriad Republican myths about taxes, the most pernicious and demonstrably false - that "tax cuts pay for themselves" - is the mostly deeply held by the GOP faithful. As President George W. Bush famously (and erroneously) put it, "You cut taxes and the tax revenues increase." Now, a survey of leading economists conducted […]

"It is more blessed," Jesus said, "to give than to receive." That may be, but the billionaire backers of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign and Super PAC plan to do both. As they gather this weekend for a three-day Romney conclave in Park City, Utah and a secret Koch brothers summit in San Diego, the deep-pocketed […]

On Monday, the Associated Press gave Mitt Romney great headline. Summing up recent analyses comparing how President Obama and his challenger would fare under their own tax plans, the AP reported "Obama win could cost Romney $5M in personal taxes." Rather than declaring "Romney would cut his own tax bill in half," the AP instead […]

Imagine that you are completing your federal tax return. After looking up the tax rate for your income level, you decide you will pay 20 percent less to Uncle Sam. But along with your underpayment, you include a handwritten note to the IRS letting the government know that you promise to make up the difference […]

This week, Rex Nutting of the MarketWatch caused a stir with his analysis correctly showing that federal spending has hardly budged under President Obama, rising at the slowest pace since the Dwight Eisenhower was in the White House. Predictably, James Pethokoukis of the conservative American Enterprise Institute cited the jump in Washington's spending as a […]

In the wake of the debt ceiling crisis he helped manufacture last summer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell boasted it was "a hostage that's worth ransoming" which "also is a new template" for the future. As it turns out, those threats were among the few true words McConnell has uttered. Because while he's promising once […]

Four years ago, conservatives mocked Joe Biden's suggestion that paying taxes is "patriotic." Now, some on the right are praising Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin as "an American hero" for renouncing his U.S. citizenship in order to avoid paying millions in future capital gains taxes. Leaving aside Saverin's dubious denial and the fact that he owes […]

"When the president told me yesterday that he wanted a clean increase in the debt limit," House Speaker John Boehner said this week, "It almost took my breath away." It shouldn't have. After all, Congress raised the debt ceiling 17 times under Ronald Reagan and seven more under George W. Bush, including a "clean" increase […]

In recent years, few Republican talking points have been regurgitated as often as the myth that almost half of Americans pay no taxes. Just last week, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor complained "we have to question whether that's fair," insisting "you've got to discuss that issue." And that could be a real problem for some […]

Since Barack Obama first announced his still-popular proposal to let the Bush tax cuts earners for the top two percent expire, Republicans have regurgitated a series of tried if untrue talking points to keep the wealthiest Americans from paying one more cent to Uncle Sam. As the data clearly show, tax cuts don't "pay for […]