I have heard Democrats touch trickle-down economics on the edges. But they always seem to fear hitting it not only head-on but for decimation. Biden did it.
Biden takes trickle-down economics to the cleaners
The construction of this segment of the president’s speech was perfect. Understand this. It isn’t that Republicans are averse to giving the American people the social programs they want and need. It is that they do not want rich people to pay their fair share of taxes for it. Of course, they also do not want the middle-class too comfortable. Otherwise, “market forces” would force higher wages if the government, as a backstop, prevents homelessness and starvation.
Biden begins with the challenge in the segment.
“When you hear someone say that they don’t want to raise taxes on the wealthiest 1% and on corporate America,” Biden said. “Ask them: whose taxes are you going to raise instead, and whose are you going to cut?”
It is the question Republicans can’t answer because their philosophy does not include taxes for the wealthy or visible taxes for the rest. User fees, toll roads, and other “taxes” administered by the private sector on the general population are fine under their ideology.
Biden then reminds Republicans of the converse. They lied as they passed a tax cut scam, even as they knew it would not be paid for and that the corporate thugs would pocket the money and have very little of it trickle to the middle-class.
Biden then described the ills of crony unfettered capitalism without ever calling it by name. He just describes how it functions. As 20 million people lost their jobs during the pandemic, 650 Billionaires made over $1 Trillion. CEOs continue to make orders of magnitude over their employees. And then he calls out the fraud.
“My fellow Americans,” Biden said. “Trickle-down economics has never worked. It’s time to grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out.”
The segment of the speech was perfect. If Biden continues on this path and if he gets the necessary cooperation from Democrats, he could tame capitalism and bring us closer to the humane economic model we find in countries that value humanity first.
And if he accomplishes that with his method, I will be the first to say I was wrong about Biden. Just maybe it takes a person with a moderate facade to implement a progressive agenda.