Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Paul Ryan Promises to Raise Taxes on the Poor and Middle Class

For the past thirty years Republicans have used every argument under the Sun to convince Americans that giving the wealthy more entitlements was the path to prosperity through their absurd trickle-down economics scam. Americans never quite caught on to the theory’s failure, and during the Bush administration, Republicans promised that if the people gave more to the rich and eliminated regulations, prosperity would finally trickle down to the working class. Instead, working Americans got a Great Recession, declining wages, lost jobs, and the wealthiest Americans got richer.

The Republican’s never meant to create wealth that trickled down to the masses because their philosophy is giving everything in America to a few wealthy families, and in the past year they have attempted to make drastic cuts to government that create poverty, homelessness, and kill jobs to make room for more tax cuts for the rich. This week, Eric Cantor revealed a new notion to help the wealthy and it entails increasing taxes on the poor and middle class to give more entitlements to the wealthy.

Most Republicans signed Grover Norquist’s pledge promising to never raise taxes, but apparently they will break their promise if it means more entitlements for the wealthy and if the poor and middle class pick up the tab. Cantor said it is time to “question whether it’s fair” that some Americans do not pay income tax and that “we should broaden the (tax) base in a way that we can lower the rates for everybody that pays taxes.” Cantor also said that to support the operations of government, it is unfair to continue to “milk them (rich) more because government has a duty to preserve their ability to provide the growth engine.” It is the “job creator” meme; only now it is the poor and middle class’s duty to give their money to the wealthy to create jobs even though they have not created one job, and Cantor calls that a fair system.

A majority of Americans believe a fair solution is to  increase the richest Americans’ taxes to help support the government and programs that benefit every American, but Republicans reject any proposal that will not increase wealth at the top. Cantor said he never “believed that you go raise taxes on those that have been successful, taking away from them so that you just hand out and give to someone else,” but it is perfectly acceptable to take money from the poor to “hand out and give to someone else” if they are rich. Cantor’s idea is an Ayn Rand, Paul Ryan philosophy that “takers” are draining resources from the “makers” and it is the impetus for Ryan’s Draconian budget that slashes spending on social safety nets to pay for outrageous tax cuts for the wealthy. It is Republican idea of wealth redistribution that  takes the poor and middle class’s limited wealth and redistributing it to the top one percent.

The wealthy have to start sharing the sacrifice the rest of the population is making for the good of the entire country, but since the start of the 112th Congress Republicans burdened the poor and middle class with all the sacrifices to pay for the wealthy’s entitlements and it is still not enough to satisfy Republicans. For Cantor to claim it is unfair for the rich to go without all the wealth is beyond egregious; it a twisted philosophy that establishes the GOP’s plutocracy.

The middle class, and especially the poor, face drastic cuts to programs in Paul Ryan’s budget and every Republican has given their stamp of approval including Willard Romney who stands to gain immeasurably if his tax rate is reduced. It is the ultimate inequity that while tens-of-millions of Americans are barely putting food on the table and a roof over their family’s heads, Republicans want to take even more to enrich the wealthy. While the rich are getting richer, most Americans struggle to survive from paycheck to paycheck, and if they are not paying income taxes, it is most certainly because they are at or below the poverty level. One has to ponder; what will it take for Republicans to stop stealing from the poor to give to the rich? Apparently, it will take every American handing over everything they own to the wealthy, and then it may not be enough to satisfy the Republicans.

The Republicans who support Ryan’s budget advocate taking healthcare, Medicare, food stamps,  housing assistance, and every other social safety net from the poor, seniors, children and working class, and now Cantor wants to take what little they have left to reward “those that have been successful.” Americans should understand Republicans will say and do anything to reward the wealthy, and if it means taxing Americans who do not earn enough to pay income taxes, they will do it as sure as they will take food off their tables and the roof over their heads. It is an indication of the America Republicans envision if they control the entire government and one that Americans who are not super-wealthy should dread. It is beyond class warfare and if Republicans are successful, it will be a holocaust.

Original Article
Source: politicususa
Author: Rmuse

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