The ‘Fiscal Cliff’ That Isn’t

On today’s Up on MSNBC, Chris Hayes said if the debt and deficit were really a major concern in Washington, we would not have a debate framed around a fictional “fiscal cliff.” Hayes said that it is neither fiscal or a cliff. At best it’s a fiscal curb, but even that isn’t correct because on the fiscal side, the “fiscal cliff’ is actually a major dose of austerity.

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Romney and Ryan: Higher Military Spending, Lower Taxes — Fiscal Hawks?

Can you be called a “fiscal hawk” or a “deficit hawk” if you are pushing for higher military spending along with a built-in floor that stipulates “core defense spending” must be maintained at 4% of GDP? Can you be called a fiscal or deficit hawk if you advocate for lower, across-the-board tax cuts at a time when the federal government is running trillion-dollar-plus deficits?

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Supply Side (Trickle Down) Economics Doesn’t Work. Can We Move On Now?

This topic will never die on The Left Call, at least not until people stop believing the lie that is trickle down economics. This idea that we need to give rich people more money in the form of tax cuts before they will create more jobs would make for a nice laugh if it wasn’t so damaging to the country and to the prospects of income and wealth equality. And when I say equality, I don’t mean totally equal, I’m talking about getting back to something more reasonable, a time when CEOs only made 30 times the average worker instead of 300 times.

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Why Are Tax Increases Not An Option?

To hear some people talk it seems like there’s always a good reason why taxes can’t be increased at any given time. Bring up the subject, there is sure to be a rebuttal proclaiming tax increases would harm the economy, etc. It wasn’t always this way. But right now we have a very vocal minority in this country that has been really good at pandering to all of us. Nobody wants their taxes increased so it’s a very easy position to take as a politician. But this position also lacks vision and leadership. It’s utterly arbitrary to say tax increases can never happen or that tax cuts are always a good thing. It requires no proof of the claim because the politician who says such things knows it’s a winning position with the public. I say somebody needs to grow a backbone and show some leadership even if it means potentially jeopardizing re-election. Somebody has to stand up and be the adult in the room.

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