O'Reilly Spins Tax Data During Clinton Interview

Interviewing former President Bill Clinton, Bill O'Reilly claimed that the Bush tax cuts boosted revenue coming into the federal government, but historical data shows O'Reilly is wrong.

O'Reilly pushed for additional cuts to income tax rates, asking Clinton: “Do you know among you, Obama, and Bush, who had the highest tax receipts of all three of you? Do you know? Bush.” O'Reilly continued: “So under prosperity, the tax cuts under Bush, more money flowed into the federal government.” Watch:

As a share of the overall economy, however, tax revenues did not increase after the Bush tax cuts. According to the Economic Policy Institute: “The decade of the Bush tax cuts has, on average, lower revenue levels as a share of the economy than any previous decade since the 1950s.” Berkeley economics professor Brad DeLong wrote in June that the 2001 Bush tax cut was “followed by no tendency of revenue to return to its pre-tax cut level.”

In July, CBS News cited data from the White House Office of Management and Budget when it reported that the “drop in tax revenue” from the Bush tax cuts “occurred even as economic activity - the nation's GDP - was continually rising.”

It's long been a right-wing myth that tax cuts always lead to increased revenue. It's no surprise to see Bill O'Reilly bring that myth into the “no spin zone.”