Now that Tax Day is over, it might do us some good to reflect on the latest Republican tax cut. It is not the first, by any means. There was St. Ronald Reagan’s “trickle down” tax theory, which added to the Nation’s debt while enriching the wealthy. He championed a “Balanced Budget Amendment,” although never once in his Presidency did he balance the budget.
There was George “Read My Lips” Bush, who cut taxes. But he had to raise them, so he wouldn’t be raising the Nation’s debt too high (whatever that might be.)
Then along came George “Let’s Invade Iraq” Bush, who cut taxes for the wealthy “to stimulate the economy.” We know what happened to his economy. This also increased the National Debt, in addition to a war paid for by the National credit card.
Finally, we have the financial genius of all time, Donald J. Trump. His tax cut, a gift to his contributors and himself, will add “only” a paltry 1.8 trillion to the National Debt.
So, if you still believe that the Republican Party is the party of fiscal conservatives, you belong on the same locked ward as The Donald!
It should be obvious to whom our National Debt belongs. It is those who have benefited most from our rigged economic system and proportionally have paid the least. Perhaps an illustration will help. Say you’re dirt poor, and someone broke your car’s tail light in the parking lot. You can’t just buy a replacement tail light; you have to buy the whole assembly, for $300 bucks. That’s $300 you don’t have, because you live pay check-to-pay check. Then, you get pulled over by Barney Fife, who writes you out a ticket: a fine of $125 plus court cost, another $75. It’s either pay it, or go to jail. So, you go to Governor Rauner’s Pay Day Loan Co. and borrow the money at 500% interest, so you can stay out of jail and not lose your $10.50 an hour job. Since you make barely $10,000 a year, that fine alone is 2% of your annual income.
Now let’s compare that with hedge fund CEO Mr. Screwuall. First of all, he probably wouldn’t be driving a ten-year-old Ford; most likely he would be driving a new, top of the line Lexus, at the very least. Most likey, officer Barney would just tell him he has a tail light out. But for the sake of an illustration, let’s say he did give Mr. Screwuall a ticket. This poor guy only made $100,000,000 that year. Damn, that would be a whole .0002% of his annual income! So the poor guy pays proportionally 1000 times more than the wealthy guy.
In the same way, The Donald’s Republican Tax Cut is 1000 times more beneficial to the wealthy than the rest of us.
That is why, I maintain our National Debt is a monument to the super-rich who really care nothing about our Country.
You might ask, “Does it matter?” The answer is, YES! First of all, it matters, because these same Republicans and Corporate Democrats are suddenly going to “see the light” and become real fiscal conservatives. That means cutting Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, “because we can no longer afford these entitlements.” (They love to call them “entitlements,” as if you never paid into these programs. By their logic, if you buy life insurance and die, and your spouse collects, it must be a “death gift.”)
This debt matters, because the interest on it sucks away money, which could be spent on our schools, our roads, our health care, you name it.
So, my suggestion is that the plutocrats, who bought off our elected Congress and President, should be made to pay it back with interest. It’s time to tear down this nasty monument to their greed, before it topples on us. Let’s demand a Wealth Tax and a Financial Transaction Tax–until our Nation’s debt is down to ZERO. And to alleviate our own suffering, make these so-called Representatives pass the Enhanced Medicare for All. If the oligarchs can live high on the hog, we ought to at least be able to live.