Under Obama, Taxes Hit A 30-Year Low

Under Obama, Taxes Hit A 30-Year Low
By Pat Garofalo
Jul 11, 2012

To hear conservatives and Tea Partiers tell it, President Obama is a serial tax-raiser who has increased taxes on “millions of Americans.” But according to the latest data from the Congressional Budget Office, tax rates under Obama hit a 30-year low in 2009, in part because of the tax cuts he implemented in response to the country’s economic downturn:



Americans paid the lowest tax rates in 30 years to the federal government in 2009, in part because of tax cuts President Obama sought to combat the Great Recession, congressional budget analysts said Tuesday. [...]

During Obama’s first year in office, the average tax rate paid by all households fell to 17.4 percent, down from 19.9 percent in 2007, according to the CBO. The 2009 rate was significantly lower than the previous low of 19.4 percent in 2003 and well below the 30-year average of 21 percent.

Now, Obama is proposing to raise tax rates on income in excess of $250,000 (which would still keep tax rates for the rich below where they were under the Clinton administration). And of course, Republicans are breaking out every falsehood in the book in order to oppose the move.