Politics...
Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.
Ambrose Bierce
Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.
Ambrose Bierce
I'VE BEEN ALTERNATING, lately, between a series on Reality, Spirituality, and Politics, and various other kinds of posts—and had intended to return to the series today.
But I ran into some interesting information which is actually closely related to that series, and happens also to be relevant to current developments in Washington D.C.
I'll begin with a graph, to give you a peek at where this is leading:
The graph shows the relationship between various top tax rates on the super-wealthy over the last few decades (along the bottom) and the rate at which the third quintile for household incomes (around $61,000 in 2009) grew, adjusted for inflation.
The facts on which the true believer bases his conclusions must not be derived from his experience or observation but from holy writ.
Eric Hoffer
believe (bi·leev´) v.t. |
Believe (Bi·leev´) v.t. |
To be convinced by the available evidence that something is true (see truth). An involuntary reaction of a clear mind to evidence. |
To make a Free-Will decision or leap of Faith, without regard to the evidence, to speak and sometimes to act as though a Truth is a truth. |
Examples: to believe the earth circles the sun, to believe molecules are made out of atoms, to believe I live in Los Angeles, to believe it's hot today. |
Examples: to Believe in Santa Claus, to Believe homosexuality is a sin, to Believe a Free Market will solve all economic and political policy problems. |
Whether one believes or does not believe a particular proposition is not a matter of choice, but a matter of intelligence, care, and evidence. |
Whether one Believes or does not Believe a particular proposition is generally held, by Believers, to be a matter of free choice. |
My proposal is not a Robin Hood-like redistribution. The wage supplements and tax reductions I'm proposing for the middle class would enable them to spend more, and their spending would help move the economy to full capacity and sustained growth. Consequently, companies would enjoy higher profits, and the stock market would rise. Although the rich would pay higher taxes and thereby receive a somewhat smaller share of the economy's overall gains, those overall gains would be much larger than they would be otherwise. Hence, richer Americans are very likely to come out ahead compared to where they were before—as they did during the Great Prosperity, when they paid substantially higher taxes but enjoyed the fruits of faster growth.
Robert Reich
YESTERDAY I SUGGESTED THAT Democrats respond to the Republican demand for a tax give-away to Big Wealth with a counter proposal that clearly marks Democrats as what they are—the party of the middle class.
They should begin with a simple and straightforward bill, aimed at tax reform, which does nothing except change the rates:
Introduce the bill, with much fanfare, in both houses, making the case that this approach is sound fiscal policy, attacking the deficit while keeping money where it can increase demand to fuel the economy, help rebuild the American dream, and move our nation forward to recapture the greatness we once had.
And don't stop there—introduce a set of similar bills, each simple and uncomplicated, each clearly designed to come to the rescue of the middle class, create jobs, or attack the deficit.
Some possibilities:
With the bursting of the housing bubble, many middle-class homeowners who can no longer use their homes as piggy banks must face the reality of flat or declining wages. The downturn also has forced—or given a ready excuse for—firms to increase profits by shrinking their payrolls, laying off millions of workers and reducing the pay of millions more. It has simultaneously induced firms to ratchet up the pay of their “talent”—the executives and traders who drive the profits. At the same time, the Great Recession has starkly revealed the political power of big business and of Wall Street...
Unless these trends are reversed, the financially stressed middle class will not have the purchasing power to keep the economy growing. This will hurt even those who are well-off.
Robert Reich
HAVING BEEN ELECTED TO the high public office of blogger, I feel it's my responsibility to the nation, from time to time, to explain to those who have only been elected to positions in the federal government exactly how to do their jobs.
So, to Obama, Pelosi, and Reid, I say:
The big issue right now is fiscal responsibility: the growing deficit and the national debt.
In spite of the fact that Republicans, historically, have never balanced the budget as well as Democrats, they are intent on making the deficit their issue, and on "solving" it through the same failed mechanism—lowering taxes for wealthy corporations and wealthy people.
This, of course, will mean raising taxes and lowering services for the middle class.
We all know by now—and so do they, in their hearts—that giving more money to people who already have way more than they can spend will not improve the economy or create jobs or increase tax revenues.
Call them on it.
Lack of respect, wrong attitude, failure to obey authority.
Harlan Ellison, L.Q. Jones, Wayne Cruseturner
(This is the completion of a story which begins here. The first part ended by saying...)
THE SECRET TO THIS transformation of humanity from a species of equals into a species of slaves and masters was not, in its essence, a mere matter of economics, or force, or even disinformation about the nature of the world.
No king could ever have tricked or forced or bargained the egalitarian ancestors of humanity into slavery.
There was a difference between the humans who fell on their faces before their king and their forefathers and foremothers.
They had been weakened at the core.
And the secret of this weakening harked back to the lessons learned from the taming of the wolves—to a phrase on the lips of the humans who tamed them.
"Bad dog!"
It wasn't, of course, the exact words that mattered; it was the idea behind them.