MoveOn.org Tells a Big Lie about Ronald Reagan and his Income Tax Rate Cuts while Extolling Barack Obama's Tax Increases.

I wasn't a Ronald Reagan fan. I felt Mr. Reagan really didn't respect the environment, was too pro business, and somebody in Reagen's camp was able to engineer the Iran Hostage release to coincide with his inauguration ceremony.

However, Ronald Reagan did reduce come tax rates TWICE during his presidency, and he was right both times for doing it. Also, Ronald Reagan had to negotiate with many different conflicting factions to get these tax cuts approved, and that made these two income tax cuts amazing achievements.

According to Moveon.org, Reagan's tax cut can't compare to Barack Obama's tax increase.

Here is the madness Moveon.org has sent out to their huge mailing list.

Dear MoveOn member,
This is ridiculous. The media has been obsessing about President Obama's plan to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans—from 35% to 39.6%—even asking if that makes him a socialist.1

But do you know what tax rate the wealthiest Americans paid on the top portion of their earnings at the end of Ronald Reagan's first term? 50%.

Under Richard Nixon? 70%. Under Dwight Eisenhower? 91%!

Shocking, right?

And for all the whining about rolling back Bush's irresponsible tax cuts, the truth is that Obama's plan cuts taxes for 95% of working Americans. Further, it closes huge tax loopholes for oil companies, hedge funds and corporations that ship jobs overseas so that we can invest in the priorities that will get our economy back on track.2

We saw a great chart in The Washington Monthly3 that shows just how absurd Republican complaints about Obama's budget are. Check it out and pass it on:


Thanks for all you do.

–Daniel, Eli, Laura, Matt and the rest of the team

Even though I was not a Ronald Reagan fan back in the 80's, I find the above email to be one of the most misleading, fraudulent, and despicable communiques ever sent to a LARGE mailing list by a group such as MoveOn.org.

When Ronald Reagan took office income tax rates for the wealthy were 70%. It was impossible for Ronald Reagan to lower it in one fell swoop to anything resembling a reasonable amount. I find it amazing that Ronald Reagan was able to cut the upper end income tax from 70% all the way down to 50% during his first term. What Moveon.org conveniently leaves out is that Ronald Reagan further reduced the maximum income tax a second time, during his second term in office, to 15, 28. & 33%.

In other words, when Ronald Reagen was re-elected, he was able to pass legislation that lowered income taxes a second again. Kind of logical and ethical to wait until a second term before doing the second tax cut, no?

For a more accurate analysis of income tax cuts under Ronald Reagan, I recommend the American Thinker article that was written in 2005, Legacy lost: Ronald Reagan's tax simplification

In the meantime, the comparison of Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama by Moveon.org, when it comes to income tax rates, is a headshaker at best, and something clearly Moveon.org is incapable of doing in an honest and forthright manner.