Tax Cuts Hurt The Economy And Only Benefit The Rich.

Larry Beinhart posted an article ("Tax Cuts: The B.S. And The Facts") at Alternet (link below) exposing the Republican myth that big tax cuts are good for the economy.

A summary of his findings is as follows:

"1. Large income tax cuts are followed by a bubble and then a crash.

2. High income taxes correlate with economic growth.

3. Income tax increases are followed by economic growth.

4. Moderate income tax cuts are followed by a flat economy."

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/106410/tax_cuts:_the_b.s._and_the_facts/

If we pay working people a decent wage, enough to live on and save, and enough to pay taxes to fund our social obligations, that seems like the way to go. Good wages means the money gets spread around fairly, and we can have a stable country. A recent U.N. study noted that U.S. cities have become places of gross disparity in wealth and income, which is often associated with social unrest and community deterioration. We need fair wages and benefits so normal people can have a decent life.

And we need fair taxes so the rich pay more, and they don't get so much power in this country that they essentially run everything and nobody else has a voice. You cannot have a democracy when the disparity in wealth is too great. Everytime the Republicans say "Tax Cuts," the rest of us should think "Wage Cuts, Benefit Cuts, Pension Cuts, Falling Bridges, Collapsing Schools" because that's really what they're talking about.

Here's the Republican economic plan in a nutshell: The Republicans (who are already rich) want to keep all the money for ourselves, and don't want anyone else to have anything.

Tax cuts for the rich gives them more money which they can use to bribe corrupt politicians to pass laws letting them get away with looting the country. Such as what has gone on in Wall Street for the past 8 years. And guess who ends up paying the price? The working people and taxpayers. Because the country has been looted, we will see schools, bridges, roads deteriorate further, teachers and other civil servants' incomes slashed, fewer benefits.

Look how quickly these Republicans froze our wages, destroyed the unions, ran up obscene levels of debt that our great-grandchildren will still be paying, threw millions of Americans out of work while flooding the country with immigrant workers including on HB1 visas to take engineering and technical jobs from Americans, and eliminated pensions. No more pensions. How did that happen?

Wealth in the U.S. has become more concentrated in the hands of the few not only during the Bush years, but since Reagan was in office. Reagan started the whole tax-cutting spree which created the mountain of debt he left for Clinton to pay down, only to see George W. Bush get into office and run up more obscene amounts of debt while allowing the corporations and the rich to loot the country. Everyone else has gone backwards economically, lost ground.

For example:

- The wealthiest 1% of families in the U.S. own 34% of the nation's net worth.

- The wealthiest 10% of families in the U.S. own over 71% of the nation's net worth.

- The bottom 40% of the country owns less than 1% of the entire nation's net worth.

- The bottom 60% of the country owns only 4.7% of the nation's entire wealth.

See, that's why Sarah Palin was out on the campaign trail screaming that Obama is in favor of "redistribution" of the wealth. They're afraid that in an Obama administration, the government might put into place a fair tax, wage, benefits, and pension system, including healthcare, that would help most of the people, and would force the wealthiest Americans to pay more in taxes. Which is as it should be.

Obama may or may not be in favor of "redistribution" of wealth, but I sure am. All that the working people in this country have ever asked for is a fair chance to earn a living. It's not like they're looking for a Seven Hundred and Fifty Billion Dollar bailout and a Neiman Marcus shopping spree.

http://www.faculty.fairfield.edu/faculty/hodgson/Courses/so11/stratification/income&wealth.htm