Viewpoint


My name is Patrick M McCormick and I have created this blog as a platform for my political views as well as those of select contributors.

I believe that American Politicians have lost sight of their goal: To uphold the Constitution and protect the rights of the people of the United States. They argue and bicker on the floor of their respective houses, positioning themselves for the next election, while they accomplish very little business for the citizens of this country.

Meanwhile our economy is sliding downward. Millions of our precious jobs have have been exported overseas. Our social safety net and other public services are being cut. Our middle class is rapidly disappearing and the numbers of citizens existing below the poverty line is increasing dramatically.

I plan to examine the causes of these terrible changes to our American way of life. Your comments will help us all arrive at some important conclusions.

Friday, December 10, 2010

The Tax Cut Scam

Commentary by
Patrick M McCormick

12/10/2010

A lot of noise is being made about these tax cuts for the wealthy. Top Republicans have dumped all sorts of fearful prophecies upon US Voters. The sky will fall, the economy will crash, there will be more unemployment, housing sales will fall and god only knows what other terrible calamities will descend onto the backs of the American workers if we do not extend Bush era tax cuts for the wealthy.

But wait, I read where these cuts will cost more than the stimulus package... isn't that more government spending? Oh they are going to make cuts in social services to pay for these tax breaks for the excessively rich. It sounds like a bitter pill to swallow, cut medicare, social security, medicaid, food stamps, educational loans and anything else that tax dollars pay for. Then, when they get the extra tax cuts, the really wealthy corporate leaders will get to work and improve things for US. I can hardly wait for that.

The theory is that by cutting taxes on the rich, the economy will rev up and everything will magically improve. Are we that F-ing stupid? These cuts have been in place for more than ten years. How many new jobs did the Bush administration create... Don't forget, with their big fat tax breaks, those generous old corporate moguls used the extra income to send more of our manufacturing jobs to China and India.

During the years the wealthy were sucking up the benefit of ridiculously low taxes, our economy crashed, the housing market collapsed and twenty million Americans were put out of work or forced to work for less. Millions have lost their homes and all of the bad things the GOP is threatening US with now... have all ready happened. I think the Grand Old Party has been infiltrated by a bunch of stand-up comedians.

If they were weren't so cruel, I'd be laughing with them. Here's what we can expect from the GOP... Take the case of six-month-old Seth Petreikis, who suffers from complete DiGeorge syndrome, which keeps him from developing a thymus, an infection-fighting glandular organ. He needs a transplant that's been pioneered by a specialist at Duke University in North Carolina.  But the procedure costs $500,000, and the state of Indiana's Family Social Services Administration won't pay for it under the state's Medicaid, It claims that the treatment is "experimental" -- even though 58 of 60 children to receive it have survived, in order to save money... they condemn the poor child to death.

Sadly, this great Bastian of GOP Christian family values, the Indiana FSSA, also recommended  parents drop off their developmentally disabled children at homeless shelters. The parents had failed to receive schedule Medicare waivers to pay for care. It seems Gov. Mitch Daniels -- who is now weighing a possible 2012 GOP presidential run -- cut the agency's funding to deal with a budget shortfall. I do not believe that he cut the payroll of state employees; why should they suffer.

And then there are the wars... when GOP leaders mention cuts, they seem to forget how much money Iraq and Afghanistan are costing US taxpayers. Why do you suppose that is? Could it be that their buddies, those wealthy businessmen, are cashing in on the wars as well? If we stopped spending our money there, how much cash would we have for the average citizen's social safety net? I'm guessing trillions.

The whole thing does not really make any sense... unless you add one word....GREED.

But We, The People, voted for the GOP because they promised to cut spending and improve our economy. Their plan is to return to Bush era programs and, as if by magic, everything will be lollipops and roses once more. Personally, I find it all rather hard to believe. The Economy the Bush Administration inherited was virtually debt free and we are dealing with the mess that Bush era Republican financial strategies caused.

 The GOP wants to sweep it all under the rug in the oval office.  President Obama, weakened by the mid-term elections, is now willing to walk over the bumps. It's a scam.




1 comment:

Your Comments are very helpful...Thank you!