Vote on the Reagan Tax Cuts of 1981 House: 321-107 (131 of those 321 yes votes are Democrats; one Republican votes no) Senate: 89-11 (37 of those 89 yes votes are Democrats; one Republican votes no) Vote on the Bush Tax Cuts of 2001 House: 240-154 (28 of those 240 yes votes are Democrats; no Republican votes no) Senate: 58-33 (12 of those 58 yes votes are Democrats; two Republicans vote no) Vote on the Trump Tax Cuts of 2017 House: 227-205 (none of those 227 yes votes are Democrats; 13 Republicans vote no) Senate: 51-48 (none of those 51 yes votes are Democrats; 1 Republican votes no)

This past Sunday, I appeared on Up With Chris Hayes, where I spoke briefly about the rise of austerity politics in the Democratic Party (begin video at 2:13). My comments were sparked by Bruce Bartlett’s terrific piece “‘Starve the Beast’: Origins and Development of a Budgetary Metaphor” in the Summer 2007 issue of The Independent Review. Barlett is a longtime observer of the Republican Party, from without and within. He was a staffer for Ron Paul and Jack Kemp, as well as a policy adviser to Ronald Reagan and a Treasury official under George HW Bush.  Now he’s a critic of the GOP, writing sharp commentary at the New York Times and the Financial Times. He and I have argued about […]