On CNBC this morning, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist claimed that the current financial crisis facing America is rooted in the fact that Democrats took control of the House and Senate in 2006. "The economy's in the present state because when the Democrats took the House and Senate in 2006, you knew that those tax increases were going to come in 2010," said Norquist.
According to Norquist, the stock market collapsed because "we're in the middle of responding" to tax increases that haven't actually happened yet:
NORQUIST: Well, the economy's in the present state because when the Democrats took the House and Senate in 2006, you knew that those tax increases were going to come in 2010. The stock market began to collapse as soon as you recognized that those old tax rates were coming back. So, we're in the middle of responding to those tax increases.
David Sirota, who was on the CNBC show as well, notes that Norquist's absurd argument was laughed at and immediately rejected by the host and the other guests on the show. The Financial Times' Chrystia Freeland pointed out that "the stock market is collapsing because the U.S. and global financial system is in crisis." Watch it:
Though economists might disagree over what the exact causes of the financial crisis are, Norquist's assertion is laughable. Indeed, if he wants to find a real culprit, he should look at the Bush administration's utter failure to supervise our mortgage, lending and financial markets properly while also ignoring the ailing U.S. housing market.
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