Stephen Moore's explanation of "Why Lower Tax Rates Are Good for
Everyone" (op-ed, Nov. 16) was an interesting intellectual
exercise, but a lower-tax formula for prosperity was just
rejected by the majority of voters. In fact, one can make a
plausible case that the very success of that formula was to
blame, in part, for its downfall. As Mr. Moore indicates,
whenever tax rates dropped in recent decades, the share of
income taxes paid by upper-income Americans went up and
Washington's tax revenues went up as well. But as a larger
segment of income-earners paid less (or zero) income taxes,
support for further tax decreases went down. That was the gist
of Mitt Romney's true but politically toxic 47% reference.  The
conservative argument in favor of lower tax rates and a simpler
tax code first has to get through media filters regarding the
validity of the data and conclusions, and then it has to be
digested and understood by voters. Mr. Moore connects the dots
from lower taxes to faster economic growth to more and