We need more Bernies
Bernie Sanders, the only Independent in the Senate, has starkly expressed the reality of the deficit situation we face. In a letter to President Obama last week, he condemned Republican demands that the deficit be addressed exclusively through cuts that would devastate the middle class and the poor and very likely tip the economy back into recession. Speaking this week, he took up the same theme. If Democrats are too timid to talk like Democrats, maybe we need an Independent to do the job.
The facts are: that the "deficit crisis" is mostly an artifact of tax cuts, the tail end of an ongoing policy which has driven taxes on the wealthy and corporations to levels far lower than at any time in the last sixty years; that federal revenue as a percentage of GNP is at the lowest level since 1950 and our corporate taxes are the lowest in the developed world; that the country enjoyed faster economic growth, far lower unemployment, and less inequality in earlier decades when taxes on the wealthy and corporations were higher; that Republican insistence that tax increases would harm the economy have proven wrong in the past; that simply letting the Bush tax cuts expire (so taxes returned to the still-low levels of the pre-Bush years) would fix the deficit; and that Republican threats to trigger a default by refusing to raise the debt ceiling are not only irresponsible but unprecedented in American history.
Austerity-mania in Europe has already driven several countries into a death-spiral of shrinking demand and rising unemployment, leading to mass protest, violence, and rising emigration by young people who see no future in their own nations. Americans over- whelmingly want our deficit fixed by raising taxes on the wealthy, not by spending cuts; and in any case they want the government to focus on job creation, not the deficit.
Listen to Sanders and to those Democrats in Congress who are standing up to the Republicans. Tell the timorous to stiffen their resolve. Restoring taxes to historically-normal levels is the right thing to do, both for the economy and politically. If leaders won't lead, we need to get behind them and push.
The facts are: that the "deficit crisis" is mostly an artifact of tax cuts, the tail end of an ongoing policy which has driven taxes on the wealthy and corporations to levels far lower than at any time in the last sixty years; that federal revenue as a percentage of GNP is at the lowest level since 1950 and our corporate taxes are the lowest in the developed world; that the country enjoyed faster economic growth, far lower unemployment, and less inequality in earlier decades when taxes on the wealthy and corporations were higher; that Republican insistence that tax increases would harm the economy have proven wrong in the past; that simply letting the Bush tax cuts expire (so taxes returned to the still-low levels of the pre-Bush years) would fix the deficit; and that Republican threats to trigger a default by refusing to raise the debt ceiling are not only irresponsible but unprecedented in American history.
Austerity-mania in Europe has already driven several countries into a death-spiral of shrinking demand and rising unemployment, leading to mass protest, violence, and rising emigration by young people who see no future in their own nations. Americans over- whelmingly want our deficit fixed by raising taxes on the wealthy, not by spending cuts; and in any case they want the government to focus on job creation, not the deficit.
Listen to Sanders and to those Democrats in Congress who are standing up to the Republicans. Tell the timorous to stiffen their resolve. Restoring taxes to historically-normal levels is the right thing to do, both for the economy and politically. If leaders won't lead, we need to get behind them and push.
posted by Infidel753 at 5:12 AM
4 Comments:
Hey Infodel ... I actually love this Guy Sanders! ... he is one of the more level headed one's that is really looking at the issue's, in a serious manner ... I done a posting on him not long back actually, cant recall the title or when off hand ... but he is one of the one's that speak's so straight up about so much. The GOP candidate's in this worm bucket are sorry as Hell too, I have been checking them out and it's awful, so hard to imagine that any of them would have a snowball's chance in Hell of beating Obama. I'm fixin to put together a post series on this in particular because of current issue's that are not being dealt with.
Thanx for the post ....
YOU BET WE NEED MORE BERNIES! The man is clear and fair-thinking and is an absolute saint!
I watched the actual Sanders speech on another blog. But again I am pessimistic. I fully expect the Republicans, who will do ANYTHING to regain power, to allow the economy to go into the toilet so they can blame it on Obama in 2010. Then THEY will offer "change" and the public will swallow it. What the hell, the wealthy will survive another downturn, this last one was great for them.
I know little about Sanders, but he's showing the kind of guts we desperately need more of. How much longer can the establishment write him off as a fringe figure, when he's saying what many people think -- at least insofar as closing the deficit with taxes rather than spending cuts is concerned.
I wouldn't put it past the Republicans to try to sabotage the economy to prevent Obama's re-election. But they need to know that Sanders and many others would be out there making sure the people know who's really to blame.
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