Mark Thoma still think's there's hope for the press

He quotes Colorado Republican Ken Buck as saying “By extending [the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy] you pay down the deficit, you grow the economy by giving people more money”. He goes on as follows.

But, of course, the Bush tax cuts did not even come close to paying for themselves. The Bush tax cuts cost us around $1.7 trillion in revenue from 2001 through 2008, in part because of weak output and job growth following the cuts (contrary to assertions about how the tax cuts would stimulate economic growth).

As for the cost of extending the tax cuts to the wealthy, the Tax Policy Center estimates that making all the Bush tax cuts permanent, as opposed to extending them only for the middle and lower classes, would cost $680 billion over the next decade.

The disappointing part is that the press still lets them get away with this. At best, the press generally says something like "some economists claim this isn't true," implying there's a debate about this issue -- that some credible economists think the tax cuts will, in fact, pay for themselves -- when there is no debate and the answer is clear. Tax cuts don't pay for themselves.

My comment:

You're right. The Republicans have a very successful two-pronged strategy.

1. Lie.

2. Intimidate the press into not pointing out the lies.

OK. So we know that. Now what?