Something extraordinary occurred on Sunday August 1st, 2010. Three prominent Americans versed in economics from all sides came out in support of letting the Bush Tax cuts expire for fiscally responsible reasons.
Alan Greenspan, previous Federal Reserve Chairman and free market conservative went on NBC’s Meet The Press and told David Gregory that he does not support tax-cuts with borrowed money. Additionally he stated that unlike what most Republicans say, tax-cuts do not pay for themselves (Transcript at: http://bit.ly/bTKZ1M).
Fareed Zakaria, a Centrist, author, commentator, and political expert said the following
“We have to be willing to pay for the government we want, which by the way is among the smallest in the industrialized world…. Or we have to dramatically cut the government, which means cutting popular middle-class programs, since that’s where the money is… So I have a proposal…. Let’s let the entire slew of Bush tax cuts retire… That would take us back to Clinton-era rates, when the American economy had its strongest growth years in three decades and the budget was balanced for the first time in four decades. “
(Transcript at: http://bit.ly/aXKPAw).
David Stockman, a staunch Conservative and President Reagan’s OMB director & architect of Reagan’s tax cut and supply-side economic policies came out with a striking article in the New York Times titled “Four Deformations of the Apocalypse” (http://nyti.ms/bkIq0A) in which he rightfully illustrated the transformation of the Conservative fiscally responsible Republican leaders into nothing but “a mockery of traditional party ideals”. He stated that:
“IF there were such a thing as Chapter 11 for politicians, the Republican push to extend the unaffordable Bush tax cuts would amount to a bankruptcy filing.”
“This debt explosion has resulted not from big spending by the Democrats, but instead the Republican Party’s embrace, about three decades ago, of the insidious doctrine that deficits don’t matter if they result from tax cuts”
What is disturbing is that serious mainstream media Liberal or Conservative coverage of these stories have been all but non-existent. No in-depth analysis as to why in the heat of the Bush tax-cut expiration debate would these prominent commentators, two of which are Conservative ideologs, so vocally and outwardly express their opinions to have the tax-cut expire in no uncertain terms.
I often wonder how such a large percentage of educated Americans can be so
- Misinformed to the real genesis of our exploding debt which is provably a result of taxation not consummate with the average American desired level of government spending. Americans still believe that just cutting pork (earmarks) and a few entitlements would make a substantial dent in our deficit; no mention of a military budget larger than that of the rest of the world combined.
- Misinformed to the real reasons why healthcare reform requires full participation because whether government forces everyone to buy insurance or not, it is the responsible citizens taking care of those who decide to be irresponsible by fiat. Healthcare Reform if implemented as codified moreover is paid for and brings down the structural deficit.
- Misinformed that illegal aliens take more out of our society than they provide. Inasmuch as the borders must be secured, illegal aliens are being made scapegoats even as they played a major role in our long economic expansion.
- Misinformed and indoctrinated that somehow a corporation whose primary allegiance is to the fiduciary responsibility to its owners/shareholders is somehow more trustworthy than a government that is duly elected by the people and can be fired every two, four or six years.
- Misinformed about our current economic system that by design concentrate the country’s wealth in the hands of a few. While most would like to believe that a pathway is available for anyone to get ahead, for most it is but a dream.
- Misinformed that corporations have exported American jobs and will not bring back American jobs until their extortion in demanding low American wages is realized thus reducing the standard of living of the masses while transferring wealth from these savings to the top 2%.
The fix is in. It is no longer a Republican or Democratic issue. It is a corporate issue. I am becoming convinced that the goal is to maintain either an uneducated or indoctrinated population that continues to vote against its own interest. If Right Wing Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats are elected in mass in the next election our faith is likely sealed permanently as our country is at a tipping point of being either Rome or remaining the USA.
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