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Published July 29, 2004
Kennedy, Reagan, and Bush Tax Cuts in Historical Perspective
Tax Legislation Tax Cut in Billions of Current Dollars (a) Tax Cut in Billions of Constant 2003 Dollars Tax Cut as a Percent of National Income (b) Surplus or Deficit (-) as a Percentage of National Income (b)
The Kennedy Tax Cuts — Revenue Act of 1964 -$11.5 -$54.9 -1.9% -1.0%
The Reagan Tax Cut — The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 -$38.3 -$68.7 -1.4% -2.8%
The Bush Tax Cuts
The Economic Growth and Tax Reform Reconciliation Act of 2001 -$73.8 -$75.8 -0.8% 1.5%
The Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002 -$51.2 -$52.0 -0.6% -1.7%
2003 Tax Cut -$60.8 -$60.8 -0.6% -3.2%
The Bush Tax Cuts If Combined in 2003 NA -$188.1 -2.0%
(a) First year estimate (b) National Income as measured by Net National Product
Kennedy, Reagan, and Bush Tax Cuts Compared to Other Budget Items
  As a Percent of Federal Budget (a)
Tax Legislation Tax Relief Social Security Defense All Other Domestic Spending
The Kennedy Tax Cut — Revenue Act of 1964 8.8% 12.8% 42.1% 36.3%
The Reagan Tax Cut — The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 5.3% 19.5% 22.0% 53.2%
The Bush Tax Cuts
The Economic Growth and Tax Reform Reconciliation Act of 2001 3.8% 22.3% 15.8% 58.1%
The Job Creation and Worker Assistance Act of 2002 2.5% 22.1% 16.9% 58.5%
2003 Bush/Thomas Proposal (as of May 5, 2003) 2.7% 21.7% 17.1% 58.4%
The Bush Tax Cuts if Combined in 2003 8.1% 20.5% 16.2% 55.2%
(a) Percentages created by treating tax relief as if it were a budgetary item (b) National Income as measured by Net National Product