The Shaker Party
The Shaker religion was a radical branch of Quakers. They were wonderful workers and craftsmen. They lived simple and fulfilling lives and believed in equality of all. Shakers had a lot going for them and their furniture and crafts are still sought out for their quality and simplicity. Unfortunately the Shakers are all gone now. Why?
The Shakers took vows of celibacy. They believed that sex was bad, so over time they became old, and died off without any offspring to carry on the religion.
The Republicans are in a similar position today. They think taxes are bad so, all but 13 of the Republicans in Congress starting in 1986 have vowed never to raise taxes for any reason. The last time any Congressional Republican voted for tax major increases was in 1991. They enforce this vow of fiscal abstinence by cutting off all sources of funding and by finding and supporting challengers to remove the back sliders from office.
Because of the Republican pledge to never raise taxes for any reason, the taxes are at a 60 year low.
http://www.thefourthbranch.com/taxes-at-...Republicans are proud of this record and claim to be the party of fiscal responsibility, however not raising revenue is only one part of the economic formula. When in power Republicans spent money like drunken sailors. They just didn't pay for what they bought. They put it all on the credit card.
In the past, any time there was a war the nation pulled together and everyone sacrificed to aid the war effort. Tax rates on the rich went to 90% to prevent war profiteering.
This time it was different. When 9/11 happened nobody was asked to sacrifice, they were told to go shopping. The rich were given bigger tax breaks. They doubled the defense spending and started two wars, but instead of paying for these expenditures, they gave more tax breaks. Katrina happened but no one paid any additional taxes to pay for that. They put it all on the credit card. They went from $250 billion surpluses projected indefinitely to doubling the debt, just because they refused to pay for what they bought.
So now we only have the money that we had in the 50's. But the population has gone from 150 million to 309 million now. Everything was cheaper then. In 1950 A new house cost $ 8,500, a gallon of gas was $0.18/gal. and the average cost of a new car was $1500.
http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/1950s.ht...The cost of government should be double for double the population, but on top of that, the cost of everything else has gone up about 20 times. The cost of everything the government does has gone up about 20 times.
Does it make sense to promise to never raise taxes for any reason? What happens when global warming causes multiple disasters? What happens if we are attacked again? How can we compete unless we rebuild our infrastructure, and revitalize our schools?
So why do the Republicans tell us that we have a spending problem and not a revenue problem? Yes the cost of government has gone up. Yes there is horrendous waste and duplication, but most of that is in military spending. Military spending accounts for 52% of discretionary spending. But the Republicans have declared Military spending off the table.
If you look at what caused the National Debt, it is a combination of mostly increased military spending, and a loss of revenue from tax cuts. After the economic collapse that Republican policies caused revenue decreased an additional 18% because there were less people with jobs so less paying taxes.
The corporations are not paying their fair share either. In 1950 Corporations paid 28% of total government revenues which was about 6% of GDP. Now corporations only pay 1% of GDP and 2/3rds of corporations pay no taxes at all!
The same is true for taxes on the rich. In 1950 the top tax rates were 91%. Now the top tax rate is 35% but the richest Americans make most of their money from derivatives and hedge funds which are taxed as capital gains at 15%, so the richest 400 Americans only pay a tax of 17%.
In 2001 when we had $250 billion surpluses projected indefinitely into the future, Revenue was 20.6% of GDP. Now it is only 14.4% of GDP. The U.S. takes less in taxes than any other developed nation. Clearly we have a revenue problem – Not a spending problem.
Where is the evidence that we have a spending problem? Yes spending has gone up, but so has the needs of the country. Still our infrastructure is crumbling, schools are shutting down, teachers, firemen, and police are being laid off. Prisoners are being released from prison. The only part of the country that has too much money, is the military, the arms manufacturers, and the huge military Industrial Complex that supports the military. The oil companies and many other industries are also making record profits. Yet the military spending, and the corporate welfare are off the table. The only ones expected to sacrifice and pay for the profligate spending that the Republicans have already purchased are the poor, the old and the infirm.
Meanwhile the gap between the poor and the rich has never been greater.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/240408-c...The Republicans argue that raising job killing taxes during a recession is the worst thing we can do, so they plan throw another trillion dollars at the rich and the corporations, in the vain hope that they will create some jobs. Unfortunately this is what they have been doing for 13 years now and it is not working. The corporations are sitting on trillions so additional tax breaks will not spur them to hire.
Only increased demand from more people spending, will spur the economy and get businesses hiring again. To do that we have to get more money to the poor. The Republican austerity measures will do the opposite.
The nation's economy has been likened to our family spending. Yes to balance the budget we need to limit our spending and stop putting things on the credit card. But we still need to pay for those things we have already purchased, even if we have to go out and get another job to pay for it.
Nobody likes taxes just like few people would work if they didn't have to. But taxes are what makes revenue just as in the family working generates revenue.
Republicans who refuse to pay for their purchases are like a deadbeat jobless dad, that goes out and buy a Cadillac so he can look fine for the neighbors. He pays for it with a credit card, but refuses to make any payments on the card. Then he blames his wife when they want to take the car away. The wife wants to use the money she earned to pay for food, rent, medical bills, but the deadbeat dad wants the family to go without food clothes, and medicine, so he can drive in luxury.
The Military is the only unnecessary spending. This is where the waste fraud and duplication takes place. Social Programs didn't create the debt. Don't throw the old and infirm out in the street so Republicans can force the military to buy weapons they don't even want.
2/3rds of the people in the country said don't touch Social Security or Medicare. 2/3rds of the people said to tax the rich and cut the military spending. To balance the budget we should cut military spending to 2000 levels (1/2), but instead the Republicans have voted to increase military spending by 17%. They are willing to destroy the economy of the nation and take it off the cliff, to protect the tax breaks of the oil companies and the yachts of the rich.
The deadbeat Republicans should take responsibility and pay their fair share, and cut military spending where the waste is. Promising never to pay for anything they have already bought, is as unreasonable as promising never to have sex. Soon the public will see the madness and decide the only way to get our financial house in order is to get rid of the Republicans.
If they don't decide to compromise, they will go the way of the Shakers.