They sound like a broken record. If you ask any conservative the answer to anything about economics they will either start foaming at the mouth trying to profess their love for President Ronald Reagan or they will tell you to cut taxes. Cutting taxes, putting money in the “hands of the consumer” sounds like a good idea to me. Hell, let’s not pay taxes at all! Then we can starve the government of money and let the private sector solve everything! Deregulation! Oh wait…. that’s what got us into this mess.
Look it up! He makes this creepy pose for all his pictures.
Oblivious to that fact, a visionary from the GOP has come to that very conclusion as a way out of the mess we find ourselves in. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) wants the federal government to have a “tax holiday” for the first two months of the year. That’s right, no Federal taxes, no Social Security- nothing. If you make the median$50,000/year (yeah right), you’ll get $2000 instantly. He estimates this at $325 billion- less than the original bailout for Wall Street! I’m sure Mr. Gohmert believes this will stimulate the economy- he has to, it’s all conservatives know how to do. Besides the obvious fact that top line tax rates have been lower for the last eight years and Chinese held treasury notes paid for them, here are a few more reasons his proposal makes no sense.
1) We already tried this last year. Giving people money when they are too scared to spend it only results in savings accounts growing and credit cards bills shrinking. The American consumer rode high on the hog for the last decade, and the bill has come for payment!
2) As much as conservatives try to say otherwise, the federal government needs tax revenues to operate. The economy teeters on the brink of collapse and Mr. Gohmert wants to stop funding programs that help people who cannot take care of themselves (you know, disabled people, poor single mothers) and give that money to people who work to take care of themselves. Besides the fairness of this proposal, it’s also unrealistic with two wars going on and everything else we spend tax money on. I know, I know we can borrow this too, but China can’t keep us afloat forever.
3) Finally, however you dress it up, Mr. Gohmert’s proposal remains a thinly guised attempt at a flat tax. He knows we cannot sustain a 0 tax rate forever, but in the short term, the conservative dream of everyone, regardless of income, paying the same tax rate would be realized. The flat tax appeals to business conservatives because it appears fair, but in reality, places an unfair burden on the working and middle classes while saving the top 5% millions and millions of dollars.
Success come with a price, the more you make the greater your responsibility to your neighbor. Rich white guys will never get that, they just want more money.
1 Comment
December 6, 2008 at 4:54 pm
when rich people get tax breaks, the only economy they end up stimulating is louis vuitton, aston martin and cristal. like, does this dude really think that rich people are going to take their paychecks to the mom and pop stores?