A reader wrote into the Washington Examiner's letters to the editor making claims that Ronald Reagan's tax policies hurt low income people during his president.  However, his attacking Reagan dismisses important data.

His figure of youths in poverty growing by 0.9 million between 1980 and 1988 is only a snapshot of a bigger picture.  Child poverty rate (18 under) stood at 12,068 in 1981 when Reagan took office and stood at 11,935 when he left.  That figure rose and subsequently fell during Reagan's two terms, likely attributable to the tax reform he enacted during his presidency.

Also, growth in top 5% income earners doesn't damage the other 95%. On the contrary, the top 5% earners' tax contributions increased, which contributed to a 28% increase in income tax revenue, adjusted for inflation.  Furthermore, total privately held wealth is not a fixed aggregate value, meaning one person getting richer does not necessarily require somebody else getting poorer.  More often, it means every other person economically separated by N-degrees can benefit as well.

Lastly, stating that the two lowest quintiles fell from 4.2% to 3.8% and 10.2% to 9.6% respectively between 1980 and 1988 dismisses the fact that total income for each rose at a rate that out-paced
inflation.  Each respectively increased by 39% and by 44%.

At first glance one could interpret Cargill's stats as evidence of Reagan tax policy hurting low income earners, but a complete picture reveals the opposite.

You can read the original letter to the editor here: http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/letters-editor/2012/05/letters-editor-may-2-2012/559376.