The United States is currently at an impasse. Since the Great Depression we have had recessions from which we have always recovered. The pathway to middleclass growth has been undeniable. Policies that clearly laid the groundwork for the Great Depression were corrected with regulations like the Glass Steagall Act and others. We had a progressive tax system that while not perfect, clearly mitigated a serious defect in our form of capitalism that rewarded the manipulation of money more so than an honest day’s work which is instrumental in the disparate accumulation of wealth of the top 2% of the population.
Then Ronald Reagan, the great communicator came and promoted the supply side economics religion in which very large tax cuts and other breaks were given to those who had the most under the pretext that the wealth would trickle down to the middleclass and more taxes would actually be collected for all military and other services Reagan advocated. Corporations would be liberated from regulations thus creating millions of American jobs and we would all grow together.
George Bush Sr. called it right when he called it voodoo economics while running against Reagan in the primaries in 1980. After all, mathematics is absolute. Reagan’s policies caused deficits to balloon for 8 years. When George Bush Sr. got elected in 1988, he broke his promise to the Republicans on not raising taxes, raised taxes and somewhat started our march back to some sort of fiscal sanity. President Clinton came to power and completed much of the job fiscally. That combination brought our budget into balance and surplus.
Unfortunately during the Clinton administration regulations on the financial sector among others were weakened. With the advent of the 2000 election of George W Bush and laissez faire capitalism we got supply side economics on steroids. The top 2% pilfered the middleclass in very non-evident ways (inflated home prices that ultimately crashed, financial instruments tantamount to a Ponzi scheme, promotion of reverse mortgages that zap wealth from middleclass families, outsourcing US jobs, etc.).
The election of President Obama along with filibuster proof majorities in the Senate and large majorities in the House of Representatives gave great hope to the middleclass that finally Washington would be on their side. Unfortunately corporations, the beneficiaries of Supply Side Economics & Laissez Faire Capitalism bought politicians that watered down many progressive policies for the middleclass and created a concerted misinformation campaign that scared Americans into voting against their own interest thus electing those with the same ideology causing their demise.
An earthquake is natural disaster that we have no control over. Supply Side Economics & Laissez Faire Capitalism has been a manmade disaster. If middleclass America does not come to this realization quickly we are heading for irreversible failure of the middleclass. Indentured servitude to the top 2% will be the destiny.
My Book: As I See It: Class Warfare The Only Resort To Right Wing Doom
Book’s Webpage: http://books.egbertowillies.com – Twitter: http://twitter.com/egbertowillies