The AP is reporting that government tax receipts are on pace to decline by 18% this year, the most significant decline since 1932 during great depression.

According to the article, "Individual income tax receipts are down 22 percent from a year ago. Corporate income taxes are down 57 percent. Social Security tax receipts could drop for only the second time since 1940, and Medicare taxes are on pace to drop for only the third time ever."

The tax receipts paint a more accurate picture of the economy than perhaps the GDP report or the unemployment report which are influenced by government spending and selective polling criteria respectively.  While GDP appears to be stabilizing, and the most recent jobs report was "improved", what millions of Americans and small businesses are still struggling with is a loss of income, this loss of income is most accurately represented by the decline in government tax receipts.

These declines in tax receipts point to a need not for higher taxes, which would negatively impact already financially strapped American families and small businesses, nor more government spending.  This report underscores the need for massive tax cuts, both in the form of individual and small business, but also for capital gains and the Tax Reform Act of 1986.  The government needs to put more money back into the economy by cutting taxes and providing incentives for Americans to invest in their businesses, the stock market, and the housing market.