Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Thinking Man's Robber Baron

That would be former Bain Capital-ist Edward Conard, busily promoting his new book, Unintended Consequences.  Something Steve Leavitt didn't consider about Roe  v. Wade; it helped cement a coalition between social conservatives and libertarian economists (and other pro-tax cutters);
Richard Nixon was the last Republican president before voters contested Roe. Without the 15 percent bloc of evangelical Christian voters in his back pocket, he had to accept a 70 percent marginal tax rate to capture 51 percent of the vote. Even then, he only won the election because of the unpopularity of the Vietnam War. Dwight Eisenhower only won by accepting a 90 percent marginal tax rate. Bill Clinton was the first Democratic president to win office after voters contested Roe. With only 85 percent of the vote available to him, and with 40 percent of that vote backing tax reduction, Clinton could only support marginal tax rates as high as 39 percent and still capture 51 percent of the vote. With this 15 percent bloc of evangelical Christian voters in his pocket, Reagan was able to lower marginal rates to 29 percent and still capture the election.

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