Larry Kudlow’s Revenue Deception

On the day the Trump administration released its fiscal 2020 budget, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow misleadingly claimed that “overall revenues are up about 10 percent.” In fact, federal revenues are down since the Republican tax cuts became law.

Federal revenues were down slightly in calendar year 2018, the first full year under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, compared with the previous year, according to Treasury Department data. Federal receipts also were down slightly in the first five months of fiscal year 2019 compared with the same period...