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Two Conservative Myths:
a) Tax cuts for the wealthy are the only effective solution for job creation.
b) Government spending destroys job creation except in our military industrial complex.
Bill O'Reilly has been on a tear lately to help propagate those myths and his latest screeds have focused on our nation's "rampant taxation" even though many news outlets have been reporting that our tax rates haven't been this low since 1958. He had on two economic talkers immediately following the above TPM to discuss his fiendish ideas and they both disagreed with him profusely, but he's the Grand Poobah of the right-wing Villagers so I tune in so you don't have to. His solution is the flat tax con, gutting federal spending and adding a horrifying and regressive national sales tax of 2 percent on everything we consume so drug dealers will finally pay their fair share. But a funny thing happens to him when he speaks with economic bobble heads. Even ones that work for Fox. They all think he's ideas are loony. These myths never die; they are only perpetually transmitted.
And now we have more bad news. President Obama is getting his wish, it would appear, as 38 Senators joined forces to stick more forks into our struggling economy.
Saxby Chambliss’ Gang of Six has grown to 38 U.S. senators from both parties, who on Thursday urged the debt reduction “supercommittee” to aim high and secure $4 trillion in budget savings.
The Georgia Republican was joined by Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and a group too large to fit on the news conference stage to send a message to the 12-member joint committee created in the summer’s deal to raise the debt ceiling. The committee must devise a plan by November to reduce future deficits by at least $1.2 trillion, on top of $917 billion in already agreed-upon savings. Chambliss and his gang want to nearly double that, as most budget experts say a $4 trillion course correction is necessary to lasso the nation’s rising debt.
“As you can see, our numbers have grown significantly,” Chambliss said. “We’re not only bipartisan, but we stretch on both sides of the spectrum in our respective caucuses. That’s how serious we know this debt is.”
This summer the Gang of Six — Sens. Chambliss, Warner, Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; Tom Coburn, R-Okla; Kent Conrad, D-N.D.; and Dick Durbin, D-Ill. — put forth a framework to save $3.7 trillion through cuts to domestic and military programs, changes in the tax code and reform of costly entitlements such as Medicare.
The Gang of 38 did not back one proposal, rather stressing that the foundation for a big deal already has been laid by the Gang of Six and outside panels. “Nobody needs to really look too far for what we need to do,” said Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga. “They just need to be willing to pull the trigger.”
The gang joined a chorus of groups urging a home run solution, heartening Maya MacGuineas, the president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “It’s not often you get that many senators anywhere together pushing for something,” she said. “I think we’ll look back and think this is a pretty important moment.”
Important for whom? Certainly not the working class and poor. Since the GOP will never vote in higher taxes or raise much revenues except in the most abstract sense imaginable, this whole process looks to be a failed experiment at the expense of 98 percent of the country.
Duncan sums it up this way:
I somehow missed that in addition to the SuperWanker committee we know have the self-appointed Grand Royal Poobahs Of The Duchy Of SuperDuperWanker who want to 'GO BIG!!!'
And if their plans move forward and the working class is once again used as an ATM machine for Wall Street so we share the sacrifice with ourselves, we may have to actually depend on the tea party House members to do what they usually do and block any legislation supported by the president.
By the way, if you need to argue with a tea party relative or friend about taxes, here's a couple of links to help you even though you're probably wasting your time.
USATODAY: U.S. tax burden at lowest level since '58
CCPP: Federal Income Taxes on Middle-Income Families at Historically Low Levels
