The biggest question we have to ask ourselves is there really a fiscal cliff or is it just the matter of a crisis too good to waste? Is Obama really attempting to fix the economy or push his socialist agenda? Is Boehner pretending to be on the side of Conservatives but secretly making deals to do Obama’s bidding. Does anyone in Washington really care about taxpayers?
Democrats claim that if Republicans would only agree to tax the rich, they would be willing to cut spending and reform entitlements. Right, then we can all join hands and sing Kumbaya as we usher in a new era of compromise and fiscal responsibility.
The problem is that the rich don’t have enough money to put so much as a dent in America’s $16 trillion national debt. “If the IRS grabbed 100 percent of income over $1 million, the take would be just $616 billion,” writes John Stossel. “That’s only a third of this year’s deficit. Our national debt would continue to explode.” Rep. Rom Price of Georgia explained it simply – “The president’s plan to increase taxes on the upper two percent covers the spending by this federal government not for eight years, not for eight months, not for eight weeks but for eight days. Eight days only, it’s not a real solution.”
Taxing the wealthy to solve the fiscal cliff crisis and reduce the deficit just won’t work. Trying to close the 2035 deficit through the top two tax rates, for example, would mean raising those rates to 159 percent and 166 percent. Setting aside the economic damage that would ensue, notice anything odd? That’s right: Those rates are mathematically impossible. And, because that policy is unworkable, taxes would necessarily have to be raised across the board and kept high in perpetuity to pay for the projected increases in federal spending. That translates into a more than twofold increase of all tax rates, not just the highest one.
Now that Republicans have decided to ignore their no new tax pledge, and that hypothetical deal of $1 in tax increases to every $10 in spending cuts, liberals appear to have decided that there really isn’t a need to cut spending after all.
In fact, many Democrats actually want to spend more, at least in the short term. The president’s most recent budget calls for $2.6 in increased spending between now and 2022. That’s $1 trillion more than the $1.6 trillion that the president has called for in new taxes. Therefore, the tax hikes would not be used to reduce the deficit, but to finance new spending. And, according to news reports, the president has already floated the idea of still more stimulus spending as part of the fiscal-cliff talks.
Republicans have made clear that they are willing to accept some higher revenue from the wealthy in any agreement, but only if Democrats concede to some structural changes to Medicare and Social Security, the two largest safety net schemes supporting elderly Americans. Some Republicans have already come up with ideas to help take Seniors down.
Bob Corker, the Tennessee RINO, claims there is absolutely no reason for wealthy Seniors to be subsidized with American Tax money for health care benefits that they can afford to pay” themselves. His plan is to cut “subsidies” for retirees earning more than $50,000 and make Social Security benefit distribution more “progressive.” In a true Socialist fashion, Corker wants to punish Seniors, who not only paid into the system during their entire working years but were responsible enough to put money aside for their retirement, and “redistribute” their retirement benefits to those who were not quite so bright and who apparently, judging by the last election, are in the pockets of Democrats.
Congressman Tom Cole, R-OK is adamant Republicans should approve a deal ensuring 98 percent of Americans do not suffer a tax increase that endangers the economic recovery and then continue to fight on other issues. I have a question for Cole – how can you continue a fight after you’ve already surrendered to the enemy? But then, Cole’s concerns is not for taxpayers or the economy but for giving Republicans political protection by guaranteeing most Americans lower tax rates without forcing lawmakers to cast a vote for higher rates for the wealthy.
And, to ensure us that there is no problem with being in debt up to your eyeballs, the drive-by media has to put in their plug nickle. “Suddenly the clear and present danger to the American economy isn’t that we’ll fail to reduce the deficit enough; it is, instead, that we’ll reduce the deficit too much,” warns Paul Krugman. Right, no one wants to be out of debt!
All this worry about debt and deficits is “an entirely contrived crisis,” writes Robert Kuttner in the Huffington Post. After all, as the New York Times explains, “deficits are actually a good thing when the economy is deeply depressed, so deficit reduction should wait until the economy is stronger.” “So,” sums up Robert Reich, “can we please stop obsessing about future budget deficits? They’re distracting our attention from what we should be obsessing about — jobs and growth.” Right, like repeating the same old failed policies will produce different results the second time around!
Wayne Allen Root said that , “only those totally ignorant about the economy — those who have never actually created a job — believe the fairy tale that taking money away from the top spenders, investors and job creators isn’t going to further damage the economy. Economic growth is about more than taxes” as je offers some common sense for the economically ignorant in Congress.
“The GOP’s role is not to assist Obama in crippling business owners and job creators, in destroying even more jobs, in damaging the U.S. economy even further. Let him pass everything he wants and do it alone. That way, he’ll commit economic suicide alone, and he’ll have to accept all the blame — alone.”
What it boils down to is no matter how you look at it, it’s a no win situation. If Republicans cave and the economy goes belly up, Obama will blame the Republican Party. If Republicans hold to their “supposed” values and the economy goes belly up, it will still be their fault.
If Republicans don’t cave a 2013 recession will make a really bad economy even worse but it would also be terrible for Obama, limiting his policy agenda across the board. And, if Republicans cave, you’ll still have less take-home pay, more jobs will be lost and the economy will still suck.
Got a headache yet? The only winners in this game are politicans in that giant sucking hole called Washington, D.C.
Source: Michael Tanner, National Review Online, James Politi, FT.com, Reuters
Libertarian radio titan Neal Boortz said on Fox News’ “Hannity” Monday night: ”We live in a culture now where it is greedy to want to keep the money you earned, but it is not greedy to want to take away what somebody else earns. Everything is turned upside down! They’re talking about tax increases to save our economy. That’s like telling a heart patient to eat more fatty foods, it just doesn’t work.”
