John Smith’s map of Virginia, engraved by William Hole and published in 1612. Public domain.
Tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 arrived while the United States was paying for wars.
If money is tight, a tax cut you can spend is real, and a war does not send you the invoice on the same day.
If you are in the middle, take-home pay rises and the deficit is a problem assigned to later.
If you have savings, lower rates on dividends and gains are the part written for you.
Congress cut income taxes in 2001 and again in 2003, and it cut the rates on dividends and capital gains.
Afghanistan and then Iraq were federal spending at the same time.
The surpluses of the late 1990s were gone.
Source: Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001; Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003.