The New Political Taboo: Taxes

 

A prominent Democrat came out today with a stunning and informative proclamation:

To paraphrase him:

     "Ending some of the outdated tax incentives which benefit specific interests within highly profitable industries don't necessarily constitute tax increases and if the GOP would simply recognize this we might be closer to a deal which may save the nation from default."

     During a time where taxes are lower than they have been in a generation, corporate coffers are stuffed with cash, unemployed Americans would work for pennies and still jobs are not being created, here a liberal democrat chooses to debate the semantics of tax increases rather than state the obvious: 

The conventional wisdom governing our political and public discourse in regards to economic policy in D.C. and the nation in general, is fatally flawed, incompetent and overly simplified in favor of the short-sighted interest of one class of Americans.

     The comments of this politician represents yet another example of how the entire conversation has been skewed by those who can afford to buy the democracy they desire.  To be certain, we should definitely spend tax dollars more efficiently, and tax more responsibly and equitably. We can neither afford to spend what we have on that which we do not need, nor opt to incentivize through tax breaks that which only benefits a few.
     A decade or two ago, Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich worked to pass welfare reform.  Democrats, to the dismay of their constituents acted in what they may have honestly thought was good faith to meet the opposition half way, and yet that good faith was never returned.  This self-destructive behavior continues today.  Democratic capitulation is par for the course in American politics, and as Democratic representatives appear powerless to fight for their traditional principles and lose their core constituents en mass, Republican intransigence is rewarded with partisan fervor and corporate cash. The free-marketeers aided and abetted by a legion of lobbyists, 527c corporations, and more recently AstroTurf populist groups funded by billionaires charge at the first hint of political weakness on the left demonizing then fighting tooth and nail to dismantle every remnant of liberalism; organized labor, public education, progressive taxation, freedom of religion, choice, civil rights, affirmative action etc.
     Telecommunications regulations and guidelines were effectively nullified, turning the primary vehicle of public and political information into a for-profit, opinion-driven corporate soapbox. Foreign nationals were allowed to own and control some of the largest and most prominent news outlets.  Through which, the screeching voices of affluent profiteers have since preached the dangers of national solidarity and domestic self-determinism over global freemarketism.  Even the corporate media outlets which openly claim to be "progressive" are all too happy to trade their objectivity and journalistic integrity for executive tax cuts and broader viewership, offering the public the semblance and appearance of objectivity through forced parity. By glancing over 30 years of economic history and the practical affect of these failed economic policies' on the middle class, they have directly conspired in shaping the nature of our intentionally limited political and economic discourse.  Within the cacophony of this vociferous background noise the true objective of dividing the working class by political party, race, ideology, gender, sexual preference, religious dogma, region, ethnicity and age has been effectively accomplished, rendering 90% of  We the working People of America incapable of parrying the offensives of a small yet entrenched minority.
  
 To reveal the limited scope of the conventional wisdom defining the popular tax and spend dichotomy, we need only ask those who preach the gospel of Mammon (aka Greed) four simple non-theoretical questions:

1. Are tax receipts lower than they were a half century ago?
2. Is GDP lower than it was half a century ago?
3. Are Wall St. profits lower today than they were 50 years ago?
4. Is the middle class as relevant and robust as it was 30 years ago?

Chances are they won't clearly answer your questions, but if they chose to do so truthfully the honest answers would irrefutably be

Yes, No, No, No.

     Tax cuts alone do not guarantee shared prosperity. The nation did not go broke due to lost economic activity neither did Americans suddenly become exceedingly lazy and overly dependent on government handouts.  Rather, we are in this debt situation because our tax code has been gerrymandered to suit the profit motives of a narrow sliver of corporate and wealthly interests. Those with money and access lobbied to get their tax obligations reduced and succeeded. Simply look at the growth and profitability of the financial services, health care and energy industries and consider the 15% capital gains tax rate enjoyed by hedge-fund managers, the Medicare part D program skillfully exploited by unscupulous health care providers or the largess of energy subsidies readily available to companies that are basically guaranteed billions in annual profit due to our addiction to their products. These are the industries which would necessarily grow regardless of what actually happens to middle class Americans.  Even if the wage growth, labor rights and health benefits of American workers were lost or "stolen by the "ghost" of globalism and competitive advantage we would still get sick and go to hospitals and need to power our homes, multi-nationals would still operate on a global level and the financial markets as they exist today know no national boundaries.     
     Those who argue that tax cuts grow economies and taxes in general always restrict economic growth are either liars or beholden to the rhetoric of liars. Who cares what Grover Norquist and the 7% of American citizens/ corporations that he speaks for thinks constitutes a tax increase!  We have been passing tax cuts for 30 years under the failed premise that such a supply side oriented growth strategy would continue to support a robust middle class and offer more Americans the opportunity to lift themselves from poverty.  Working class people have not seen their incomes grow, there has been no increase in the types of jobs upon which the middle class of a generation ago was built.  
     What exactly has the country gained from the short-sightedness of Mr. Norquist or the capitulation of Bill Clinton and other DINOs?Absolutely nothing besides a supposed debt crisis, a divided citizenry, and an economy incapable of providing enough opportunities to support the aspirations of the majority of our people.

     The larger paradigm needs balancing, Americans need clarity as to what side they are actually on, the illusion that they have a choice of what side they are on needs to be shattered and their true placement needs to be revealed to them before they are powerless to act upon that knowledge.

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Independence Day, 2011

     On this day in which we celebrate the idea of  freedom and Independence from those whom would enslave our countries noble labors to the will and opulence of foreign masters we once again find ourselves in a similarly precarious place, the recession is technically over, corporate coffers are packed with capital, the stock market has increased in value upwards on 60% since the "technical" conclusion of the recession, and yet millions of once dutifully employed middle-class Americans still finds themselves on the brink of destitution unable to find their way back to that cherished dream earned with their own sweat and effort only to be lost in the blink of a greedy eye through no fault of their own. All across the nation, homes where children once played sit as vacant eye sores in once bristling communities where they slowly fall into dilapidation before being written off by banks just as the families which once occupied them are being written off by there fellow Americans. Small businesses across the country find themselves with lower tax obligations than they had 15 years ago but a glaring deficit of paying customers to provide the revenue necessary to take advantage of all the "supply-side stimulus". 
     Our nation sits on the brink of default with half of our elected officials unable to support the slightest effort at responsible revenue increases simply because an unelected corporate profiteer has their signature on a "pledge" to resist any tax increase outright regardless of the context for such an endeavor. The other half of our elected officials fear the supreme court decision which enables the only profitable enterprises remaining in the current economy (corporate American) to spend unlimited amounts of private money to directly influence federal, state and local elections, so they feign when they should charge and charge when they should feign like exhausted and shell shocked fighters over-run by superior forces. The only solution palatable to the political predicaments of both parties is to re-write the social contract and shift even more of the burden and strain of this current economic calamity upon the backs of the elderly and working middle class whose blatant exploitation knows no bounds. This the mainstream media labels as a difficult yet responsible choices.
     The only social movement with national visibility within this current depressive social milieu is one sparked by a wall street broker enraged by the mere idea of the federal government stepping in to offer a modicum of assistance and support to any of the millions of Americans whose greatest investment (their homes, in which they raised their children) had just been ravaged by the greed and recklessness of the peers of that same individual who effectively co-opted the rhetoric of the American revolution to validate his self-centered rant against any federal action which may adversely affect the value of his wager (Credit default swap I assume) that the lives of million WOULD be destroyed in the wake of the de-regulatory zeal of the last few decades.  That movement being quickly co-opted and thoroughly funded by the billionaire owners of an energy conglomerate was more than capable of surviving the economic slaughter running rampant across the nation and facilitating the election of representatives across the country who would be all to willing to rage open war against organized labor, immigrants workers, women rights, campaign finance legislation, same sex marriage, and every other public institution which stands in contrast to their chosen ideology.
     America, it is time for another movement, not one built on the back of a political campaign from either party, but one built upon the dreams of the true majority. Those whose value is created through the efforts of their arms and limbs. This nation cannot be great again without restoring the prominence of the great middle-class.  We must out-educate and out-inform the mis-informers and mis-educators.  We are out here, we feel your struggle, we remember the struggle of our parents and will do what we must to alleviate the struggles of our children and our children's children. The situation is precarious and dire but it is not hopeless. Join Me

Independence Day 2011

American-Proletariat
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