And, he wonders why Republicans roll their eyes when he talks? 
President Reagan reduced the oppressive tax burden on top earners from 70% when he entered office to 28% when he left office in 1989. (Heritage)
As an excuse to raise taxes, Obama tried to tell Republican lawmakers yesterday that taxes today are lower than during the Reagan years.
The Hill reported:
Republicans attending a White House meeting on Wednesday didn’t take kindly to President Obama telling them tax rates were higher during the Reagan administration.
GOP members engaged in a lot of “eye-rolling,” according to a member who was on hand to hear Obama, who invited House Republicans to the White House for discussions on the debt ceiling. The White House and Republicans are trying to reach a deal on spending cuts that could allow the $14.3 debt ceiling to be raised.
“[The President] made a comment like the tax rate is the lightest, even more than (under former President) Reagan,” Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) told The Hill following the meeting.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) joked that during the meeting, “We learned we had the lowest tax rates in history … lower than Reagan!”
Tax rates were higher for most U.S. taxpayers during much of Reagan’s presidency, though all individual taxpayers received a tax break under the 1986 tax reform law ushered in by Reagan.
In 1984, a 50 percent tax rate existed on income above $162,400 a year, although many taxpayers could find loopholes in the tax code to reduce their tax burden. Many of those loopholes were eliminated in the 1986 tax reform law signed by Reagan.
In the last year of Reagan’s presidency in 1988, there were two tax rates for individuals; a 15 percent rate for those making less than $17,850 and a 28 percentrate for those making above that level.
Today’s tax code includes six rates, with the highest tax bracket paying 35 percenton income above $379,150.
Of course, it’s not the first time Obama has used this line.
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