The big lie

You all probably know by now, my faithful reader(s), that I tend to rant against the lies told mainly by the right and accepted by the left. I'm going to expose a big one right now; the idea that government has a spending problem. It's a lie, and until we get ourselves out of that narrative we're fucked. Let me explain it to you the way we should all be explaining it in town meetings and tea party gatherings.

Let's say a man earns $70k per year. It's not a ton of money but it's enough to feed his family and keep a roof over their heads, and to have a bit of fun with that same family. It's not perfect but a man can build a life out of it. Alas, the man loses his job - for any of a number of reasons. The why isn't important - just the fact that the $70K income is now gone.

The man searches for a job, but cannot find one immediately at the same level of pay he had been receiving. Instead, he takes a job earning $45K per year - for no other reason than that it's better than nothing. He can still keep his family fed. He has to cut corners and the bills are going to start to pile up, but he can provide the basics for his family.

Question: Does this man have a spending problem? The answer is no, he does not. His problem is that he isn't earning as much money as he had been.

Now if we take this example to the macro-economic scale that the Republicant party suggests, the recommendation is that he cut down on his spending and tighten his belt. After all, that's what they want the government to do - spend less money and not increase the amount of money they have. It's like saying to that man with the lower paying job to just go ahead and accept where you are.

Screw that. I'm telling that man to keep looking for another $70K job. It's the only way he's going to get the life he used to have back for his family.

What it all boils down to is class warfare. The Republicants are setting up a mindset where everyone needs to accept where they are in life right now. If you're poor then it sucks to be you. If you're rich why not stay that way? It's the same for the entire country. The government is that man who is working for $45K after losing a sizeable chunk of income to the Bush tax cuts. The country lost its revenue, and now has to tighten the belt in order to keep functioning. The Republicants say that this is good enough.

And that's the big lie. It isn't good enough. There is that higher paying job out there, and unlike a normal job seeker the government can increase revenue easily. Yes, it involves raising taxes. But that guy earning $45K or even $70K isn't going to feel the sting of it. It needs to be hitting the people who won't feel the sting of it very much. The rich and the very rich. The companies who have an effective tax rate far below what it is supposed to be. The people who have a limit on their Social Security tax because they earn more than the upper limit set. Face it, a few thousand dollars for these people doesn't mean the same thing as it does to that man earning $45K.

Because we need more revenue, just like that man.

No cheap shots today, and I'll probably be away the rest of this week.

But because I love you, Chance & The Lucky Aces (with apologies to my French friends)