Does cutting taxes create jobs? Listen to your Uncle Cecil.

Slug Signorino explains Reaganomics “What arguably began as a noble effort — making U.S. income taxation fairer and more rational — has degenerated into one of the great con games of our time.. . .

“Reagan took office with a 7.5 percent unemployment rate. By September 1982 it had climbed to more than 10 percent and didn’t drop below 7 percent till halfway through his second term. From 1979 through 2004 the real after-tax income of the poorest fifth of the country rose by a paltry 9 percent, while that of the richest fifth rose by 69 percent. Over roughly the same period CEO pay rose by about 500 percent. . . .

“A string of millionaire candidates for public office has duped a good chunk of the electorate into thinking the way to create jobs and otherwise solve the problems of the middle class is to cut the taxes of the wealthy. That’s absurd. If the massive tax cuts of the Reagan era didn’t do the average worker much good, trimming another percent or two now sure won’t. What it will do is leave more money in the pockets of the comfortably affluent. . . .

“While cutting taxes sometimes may help the country as a whole, if you’re like most people, it probably won’t help you.”

The Straight Dope: Does cutting taxes create jobs?.