In a Washington Post story about the debt-ceiling negotiations, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) said, “If the Republicans are really serious about lowering the amount of the national debt, then, by golly, let’s bring in some revenues.”
If Senator Warren is really serious about raising revenue, then, by golly, she should know that federal revenue last year was the highest it has ever been in American history. From 2015 to 2022, federal revenue increased from $4.05 trillion to $4.9 trillion — an all-time high. As a percentage of GDP, federal revenue increased from 18 percent in 2015 to 20 percent in 2022.
If record-high revenue, equal to one-fifth of the U.S. economy, is still not enough for Warren’s preferred policies, it should fall on her to explain why the IRS should be taking yet more money from taxpayers.