George Will: Democrats' Prosperity Problem George Will: Democrats' Prosperity Problem

George Will: Democrats' Prosperity Problem

They have a problem. How do you exclaim, as Hillary Clinton does, that today's economy is "like going back to the era of the robber barons" and insist that the nation urgently needs substantial tax increases, in the face of these facts:

In the 102 quarters since Ronald Reagan's tax cuts went into effect more than 25 years ago, there have been 96 quarters of growth. Since the Bush tax cuts and the current expansion began, the economy's growth has averaged 3 percent per quarter, and more than 8 million jobs have been created. The deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product is below the post-World War II average.

Democrats, economic hypochondriacs all, see economic sickness. They should get on with legislating their cure.

President Reagan talked about a rising tide raising all boats. The reality is that it does. Crying about rising inequality is class warfare language aimed at garnering votes from the less fortunate. The problem is that if it is pursued, all suffer, and those at the bottom, suffer the most.