Reagan cut tax rates. Because of that, people had the incentive to make more money, because they could keep more of what they earned. High taxes disincentivize increased effort. More economic activity meant more jobs, i.e. more taxpayers. This resulted in more total tax revenue coming in, or, higher total taxes paid in the aggregate. Why is this so tough to understand? There was no "trick". More economic freedom and opportunity results in more economic activity. Less, and you get what we have now.

Last edited by Ken61; 09/26/14 09:00 PM.
I prefer wood to plastic, leather to nylon, waxed cotton to Gore-Tex, and split bamboo to graphite.