Today marks the 10th anniversary of former President George W. Bush signing into law his 2001 tax cuts (he passed a second round in 2003). While doing so, Bush promised prosperity and growth, but the nation got neither.


President Bush smiles after he signed his $1.35 trillion tax cut bill Thursday, June 7, 2001 at the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) The cost of these budget-busting 2001 and 2003 tax cuts was, as estimated by Citizens for Tax Justice, roughly $2.5 trillion through 2010. But America didn’t have to go down this route of cutting taxes and hoping for growth to miraculously appear. There were other policy options available to policymakers.

ThinkProgress, using data on various social spending projects from the National Priorities Project — which does these calculations for the cost of the Iraq and Afghan wars — has estimated ten other possible policies we could’ve paid for at the same $2.5 trillion price of the Bush tax cuts. While not all of these policies are currently performed by the federal government, they do represent an accurate calculation of the monetary tradeoffs, and each one individually would cost the same as the Bush tax cuts. Here are ten alternatives we could’ve pursued instead:

- Give 122.7 Million Children Low-Income Health Care Every Year For Ten Years

- Give 49.2 Million People Access To Low-Income Healthcare Every Year For Ten Years

- Provide 43.1 Million Students With Pell Grants Worth $5,500 Every Year For Ten Years

- Provide 31.5 Million Head Start Slots For Children Every Year For Ten Years

- Provide VA Care For 30.7 Million Military Veterans Every Year For Ten Years

- Provide 30.4 Million Scholarships For University Students Every Year For Ten Years

- Hire 4.19 Million Firefighters Every Year For Ten Years

- Hire 3.67 Million Elementary School Teachers Every Year For Ten Years

- Hire 3.6 Million Police Officers Every Year For Ten Years

- Retrofit 144.6 Million Households For Wind Power Every Year For Ten Years

- Retrofit 54.2 Million Households For Solar Photovoltaic Energy Every Year For Ten Years

The tradeoffs paint a stark picture. For the same price as the Bush tax cuts, which did little to help the economy, we could’ve sent tens of millions of students to college, retrofitted every household in America with the capacity to generate alternative energy, hired millions of firefighters and police officers, effectively ended our national shame of having kids who lack health care coverage, or put millions of more teachers into classrooms. But instead, Congress passed budget-breaking tax cuts, and then went on to pass even more in 2003. In 2010, Congress then went on to renew the Bush tax cuts for an additional two years, and the political will for the sort of public investments listed above appears to have dried up.
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/06/07-8

I think you're reading that wrong. Basically, they're saying that any one of those options could have been used as opposed to the tax cuts (take for example, the Pell grants--$5,500 x 43.1 million = $2.37 billion).

However, it is astonishing to see what could have been done with wasted money. Military spending alone could feed, house and provide healthcare for every citizen in the country and then some.

Oh, sorry ... you did put "or" in there. Disregard. :D

i wonder why obama extended them, if they are so bad?

because he caved to the republicans. Probably the campaign doners as well, lets face it the rich call the shots and he can only do what they let him.

So instead of paying off our debt you would rather just hand out more money? States should offer their own scholarship funds not the federal government. I mean if Louisiana can afford to do it any state should.

You have to know by now that the only savior for the people is a highly efficient centralized government that knows exactly what every American needs and will do whatever it takes to insure they get it.

Isn't your goal in life to have exactly the same as everyone else, but the elitists that run the show?

They obviously can't live like the rest under that system, but hey.. maybe we won't have to wait 3 or 4 hours in the breadline if we just conform..

would love to see the debt paid down, they could raise billions if the republicans hadnt faught for the tax abatements for the oil companies, who by the way have had record profits year after year.

This is kind of funny. The oil industry gets $4 billion in tax breaks. wow... that is certainly going to fix our budgetary problems. Wouldn't it be great if they passed on that tax increase to the consumer? That is great strategy..

How about you start complaining that the much smaller and fairly insignificant Ethanol industry gets $7 billion in tax breaks and subsidies.. Or corporations like General Electric get to play the offshore game and actually get money back from the IRS even though they made $10 billion in profit in the US and $80 billion in profit overseas..

I think I did a thread about GE.

It should be obviouse that the big business lobby runs our country.

How else could they keep all those tax abatements if they didnt own the politicians?

They would rather see people go hungry than pay taxes.

This country is moraly bankrupt.

Ive said it before.

The bankers control the businesses.

The businesses control the government.

And the government controls the people.

Yep. The gov'ment is the violent, thuggish enforcement arm of the military-banking-corporate complex.