Conservatives: Addicted To Misinformation

After Gov. Sarah Palin's nomination acceptance speech, I remarked it was a "sad night for conservatism," as the wildly received speech exposed the conservative leadership's desire for snide insults over responsible governing, for eschewing personal responsibility of their own failures in favor of blame-shifting on to others.

The other deep problem with modern conservatism is an addiction to misinformation. Sure, unchallenged misinformation can help win battles of public opinion, but it doesn't help so much in governing (See "Bush Administration, eight years of"). And if conservatism is ever going to regain its luster, it needs to win back credibility as an effective governing philosophy.

So I am sad again today, seeing my regular Bloggingheads.tv sparring partner and Heritage Foundation blogger Conn Carroll echo the misinformation on Sen. Barack Obama's tax plan thrust upon me on Bloggingheads.tv last week by Conn's substitute Amanda Carpenter of TownHall.com, false claims which have become a conservative staple in recent days.

Conn's recent post makes a strained attack on the Washington Post's Harold Meyerson, who today noted that the conservative attempt to make Obama's $1000 tax credit for working families sound like "a subsidy from all the Joe the Plumbers to undeserving people who live off the dole" has racially divisive undertones. Conn tries to argue that by the same logic, Al Gore is a racist because he once supported a lockbox so payroll taxes would be fully dedicated to Social Security and Medicare.

Conn writes:

If you have the audacity to point out that the only way Obama can claim to be giving 95% of the American people a tax cut is by either giving tax refunds to people who never paid taxes or by raiding payroll taxes that support Medicare and Social Security, then you are a racist.

Like Amanda and her beloved Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberly Strassel, Conn repeats the false statement that Obama's "Making Work Pay" $1,000 refundable tax credit for 95% of working households (not "the American people" by the way) would go to "people who never paid taxes," when anyone working at least pays the flat, regressive 15.3% payroll tax. There is no such thing as a working American who has "never paid taxes."

(There isn't even such a thing as an unemployed American who has "never paid taxes" because everyone at least pays some sales tax when buying basic necessities, perhaps also some gas and phone taxes. But Obama's "Making Work Pay" tax credit would not go to them.)

Conn tries to pre-empt this argument by implying you can only bring up payroll taxes if Obama is promising to "raid" the Social Security and Medicare trust funds to pay for the tax credit (which he is not). But as I noted before, the payroll tax (which is also tax on your income) is not fully dedicated to those trust funds and some of the revenue goes into the same general fund as the income tax.

We do not have to raid the trust funds to recognize that low-income workers currently pay a regressive tax, and a tax credit from the general fund -- not a transfer of wealth taken from any middle-class plumber, as they too would get a tax cut under Obama's plan -- would help alleviate that.

Conn has the audacity to set up two entirely false choices for what Obama's tax plan means. That does not make him a racist, but it does make him mendacious (if not ignorant, and I do wonder to what degree conservative reliance on misinformation has dumbed down it's own movement adherents.)

It would be appear that this line of attack is not upsetting Obama's electoral chances, as Obama holds a 14-point lead over McCain on the issue of taxes.

That should be a warning to conservatives.

The decades of false conservative attacks against progressive taxation have reached their limit. Conservative credibility concerning governance is shot, and continued reliance on misinformation is not a path to restoring credibility.

Originally posted at OurFuture.org

Comments

[RobinSeattle]

This misinformation (or what it really is, disinformation) in Republican land continues with their lionization of "Officer Hairspray," Dave Reichert, in Washington state. What are the facts on Reichert? Have a look (from the local media there): http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/287802_reichert06.html

Please vote for his Democratic Party opponent, Darcy Burner, a Harvard educated computer science grad:

[TarantinosNYC]

I like the addiction concept for the GOP as it has become. People are emotionally attached to the certainties, the superiority complex, the sneering. Watching all the pundits swallow their own brains to praise and support Palin on TV shows is like watching Jim Jones people drink Kool-Aid rather than face reality (although some of them were forced to at gunpoint).

[vcsmith]

Your point is on target. In fact, the case could be made that they take this misinformation and then skew it further from what was intended. Its like the decisions we make in life. We fall in a ditch at which time we have a choice to either warn others about the ditch or we sit by and let other fall into the ditch with the logic that since we fell into the ditch just let others suffer the same fate. And in some instances, the later might start pushing people into ditch. I guess it makes them feel good or something. Nice article.

[Semper]

Well the conservative movement likes to turn back the clock. So they lie or embellish their past stories of the past. If they are to hold back the tide, they feel they must lie or distort. I just hope the Democrats are observing this.

[wendynyc]

It has become harder and harder for the average citizen to get accurate information because the main stream media has become a spin and propoganda machine for the corporate agenda.

Thank God for the internet this election cycle- at least we have been able to debunk all the lies coming out from the Right.

Gore and Kerry would never have lost if we had access to the internet at the time.

[indianaeric]

The oft repeated statement that 40% of taxpayers don't pay federal income tax is inaccurate. The number is apparently based on a WSJ editorial
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121910303529751345.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
which cites a CBO study
http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/88xx/doc8885/EffectiveTaxRates.shtml
This study divides tax filers into quintiles (fifths) and gives averages for these. The bottom two quintiles have zero tax liability on average. The WSJ editorial erroneously assigns the average of each quintile to the entire quintile, which is where the 40% number comes from.
To accurately calculate, download data from the IRS:
http://www.irs.gov/taxstats/index.html
2006 is the latest year for which details are available. What one finds is:
138M filings
194M taxpayers (accounting for married filing jointly/separately)
46M federal filings with zero income tax or 33% of filings.
59M taxpayers with zero income tax or 30% of filing taxpayers.

So the correct statistic is, 30% of taxpayers pay no federal income tax.
Yeah, it's picky but let's at least get the facts straight.

[SportGirlie1]

"Just the facts, m'am".
thanks for this. i love facts.

[vcsmith]

Excellent

[the truth101]

Ok I can agree with both sides of the issue here. I do not think that I should pay for someone else to live. I also think that not everyone is abusing the system. I mean some people think that that programs like WIC, FOODSTAMPS,WELFARe, SECTION 8 are not ok. I think that personally there should be atime limit on these programs which there are some in place now. Then you have to think about things like natural disasters that happen or this economic disaster, there are people that are losing their jobs and now are on some type of Governmental assistance. If we are paying taxes it helps to give to OUR COUNTRY. We might not need at that time, but might need in cases of emergencies. I am not saying that the system is up tp par, but it does have its advantages. I think that the Government needs to start looking into people that are not using it correctly, but when you think about it. If people are poor and starving and can not find a job that will help them with the basic needs then there is going to be more crime we all know that can happen which means more prisons and that means that your taxes wil be going to from WELFARE to PRISONS where you are going to be taking care of them anyway.

[vcsmith]

You will never be able to understand what goes on without being in the system, so to speak.
First, the situation is huge in numbers, therefore practically unsolvable. The solution is somewhere between better education and job/work training. I think most people, if they got close and involved with this dilemma, would opt to pay any bump in taxes. Just remember, if you earn less than $250,000, your safe.

[Davwbaird]

Or some of us are getting older and have some problems made worse by living in a polluting nation and pay a price.

[magen]

What else can a conservative do but lie and smear???

When the facts don't support ANY of their policies??

[ElBruce]

Conservatives don't have a philosophy of governance, for a very simple reason: they don't believe in it. When government is "the problem, not the solution," the only rational approach that follows must be to govern poorly, as in get elected and then fail to do their jobs. The Bush administration has been a shining example of this, particularly in regulatory appointments.

The challenge that should be put to them at every turn is to ask why we should elect them to jobs which they have no intention of actually doing. The necessary functions of government have been publicly exposed with every failure of the Bush administration. If the people running for the job don't want to do it, they shouldn't be running for it.

[jazzman]

This is truer than you think. It's not that conservatives set out to be liars but that they have a mindset that moves them in that direction. When I belonged to an evangelical Christian organization attempting to attract teens or members, we were always told to not let the target recruit really know who we were or what we were up to. So we devised things like inviting people to a party, or inviting people to a rock concert. The idea is that once you had them there, you then could convert them. The operating principle was always deception. The ends always justified the means. If you take that mindset and generalize it you get the attitude that it's allright to say anything as long as you get the 'save.' I think this mindset lies behind the Republican conservative base thinking it's okay to lie, cheat, and smear in order to achieve the righteous end, which is a Republican victory blessed by the Savior himself.

[olephart]

There are two issues here, conservatism and Republican policies. The Republicans like to paint themselves with the broad brush of conservatism (after falsely demeaning liberalism for years). However, many of their policies have been traditional pork, crony capitalism and outright theft. Their tax policies have been the failed voodoo supply side economics that has no basis in traditional conservative economics. The Republican alliance with fundamentalist Christians is not conservative; it is cheap pandering. They have sold their unwitting supporters a bag of crap dressed in conservative clothing. The one item that is truly conservative is deregulation. As in the 1920s, the 1980s and today this conservative policy fails each time.

Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich both espouse a non interventionist, non Empire building Foreign Policy. Is this a liberal or conservative policy? The conservative policy that public monies are precious and should be used efficiently and effectively is valid. However, Republicans have failed miserably in this respect. Democrats have also failed but aren't cowardly hypocrites and ineffective spending is not a liberal policy.

The liberal policy of Government oversight of the financial system should now be etched in stone. The liberal policy of progressive taxation should be etched in stone. The liberal policy of responsible governance should be practiced by all levels of Government. The conservative policy of the judicious use of public monies should be etched in stone. Those who think of themselves as conservatives and who supported the Republican policies are responsible for these disasters.

[sdskelton03]

You are absolutely right about the first six years of the Bush presidency. The republicans did the same thing they always (rightly) accused the democrats of.

They wasted our money like a bunch of drunken sailors on shore leave. They paid the price for it.

My concern is that under the leadership of Pelosi and Reid, and with no check coming from the white house, the democrats are going to do the same thing.

[EuGeneTherapy]

The check on Pelosi and Reid is to come from the American people. We know there are no easy ways out of this mess, and will surely let them know our opinion if they falter. That Democrats hold their representatives accountable is our greatest asset, and ironically, over the past four election cycles, our greatest detriment, since lockstep blind approval got republicans elected and re-elected time and again.

The time for Republican accountability has come, if only with the voters and not with the justice department, as they deserve!!

[olephart]

Elections come every two years, it's the citizens responsibility to keep a check on these things.

[Paul]

Conservatives are in denial. Throwing McCain under the bus doesn't change the fact that conservative ideology is simply wrong. The current economic crisis and our standing in the golbal economy simply confirms this.

The most successful societies on the planet currently have higher tax rates, strong labor unions and bigger governments - all the things conservatives say are bad.

But the taxes collected actually deliver value. Consider western Europe - socialists all by some conservative definitions. But those countries have:

1. A better healthcare system
2. A better educational system
3. Better mass transit
4. Shorter work week, six weeks vacation
5. Better environmental standars
6. A smaller standing military
7. No structural budget deficits
8. No persistent balance of trade deficit

In short, a better quality of life.

The conservative ideology should be consigned to the dustbin of history where it belongs.

[eds1985]

And over 40% of your income is taxed.

[Paul]

OK, but if you add the cost of healthcare insurance to my tax bill, the cost of a private education for my children that is the equal of European schools, and the cost of owning a car - not needed in Europe - I come out way ahead with 40% tax.

I would move to Germany but it turns out they actually enforce their immigration policies.

Conservatives are convinced that government can't provide value - and this becomes self-fulfilling every time they are elected.

We need to break that cycle and start electing people who can make the government deliver.

It can be done.

[EbonBear]

Americans have this deeply annoying habit of treating Europe as a monolithic entity when the laws, customs and tax rates are very different from country to country.

I'm British, the median tax rate here (the one most people pay) is 22%. Germany averages 25%. The French system is extremely complex but averages at about 30%. Switzerland's maximum tax rate is 13.2%.

On top of that, if you add in healthcare costs to what you pay in taxes (part of taxes here so would be comparing like-for-like), we actually pay less tax than you do.

[gbw1954]

There you go letting information facts and logic get in the way of the debate. The republicans have Ms. Information out on the trail who hasn't met a question yet she won't answer. I see misinformation as kind of the middle of the road strategy for both parties. All the ads with just a little bend of the truth. And with that little bend is the crack of doubt. Out on the far reaches of the parties misinformation appears to be to big of a word so they adjust and use a few easier ones smear, fear and hate come to mind. The last several cycles since the playbook of Atwater became the gold standard, each cycle has exponentially expanded the divide.

[Taan]

The formula is simple: The Republicans want little government and no social programs. Ergo, they are stuck with this position in campaigning. And by not addressing these vital issues, they can only sling mud at their opposition. As critical as the situation is today, mud slinging won't get votes. So, they have nothing positive to sell the electorate. And with Palin on the ticket, she is the albatross around McCain's neck slowly pulling him down to the deck.

[RightWingMarine]

I agree with your summation of the Republican plan. That is exactly what I want. Little government and no social programs. Why should I have to work hard and pay taxes so that someone else can choose to not work, get their food for free from WIC and food stamps, and have Fannie Mae forgive the debt they own on their homes if they injure themselves (like that woman who shot herself in the chest). I support James Madison's view of government spending "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on the objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents."

Write in Ron Paul for President!

[SherryIndianapolis]

Pity on such selfish thinking and misguidanace....

All I can tell you:

Don't get sick.

Pray that natural disaster never hits your household.

Peace to you.

Obama/Biden '08

[IndianaMeg]

I'm with you in that I don't want people just feeding off the system and getting things for free. But the bottom line is that you can't lump everybody who's in a bad situation together and somehow say they're all bad, irresponsible people. Right now there are loads of people who have done nothing but play by the rules, and yet these people are still losing their homes, their savings and their jobs. So what do you do with these rule-followers whose lives have been turned upside down? Are you to deny them of government assistance and say, "Sorry, Charlie. You're screwed." That's taking away the American Dream in my opinion. I guess I'm just sick of the selfish attitude of "I'll take care of myself and my own". Whatever happened to helping your fellow man? Last time I checked we are all Americans and we are all in this country together. Of course we have individualistic freedoms, which is what makes this country great. But without each other, we could not exist. I'd hate to think you ever got in a bad situation that was out of your control and then, God forbid, there was nobody there to help you. And don't say it can't ever happen, because it can. I thought this was why cities and towns formed in the first place. Because people have a natural desire to cluster together and be near other people so we can help each other when we need it.

[sdskelton03]

I'm not buying your argument.

All across America there are families whose federal tax refund is greater than the taxes they paid throughout the year. I see it every day in our bankruptcy law practice.

Politicians take my money and give it to other people in return for votes. That is exactly what Senator Obama is doing.

Can you say this: Under Mr. Obama's tax plan, no one will receive a larger refund than the amount of federal taxes they paid in the first place?

I dare say you can not.

[Rule Of Law]

Can you say under Bush's first "rebate" that the same things didn't happen?

And what about all MY MONEY he's giving to the bankers who screwed us in the first place? Isn't this redistribution of MY income?

[sdskelton03]

So your argument is that because Bush did it, then it is okay?

That isn't gonna fly very far on this website.

As to the second part of your argument, no money was "given" to bankers. So far the money has been used to buy preferred stocks in major banks.

Besides, that is little more than a red herring argument that has nothing to do with either the author's essay or my response to it.

[Ironquill]

Well, that's one end of the spectrum, you're dissing your clients?
On the other end of the spectrum, all my well-off friends loved the Bush tax cuts and they are all voting for McCain, hoping he will extend the tax cuts he was against in 2000.

[KidSampson]

That's what a tax credit is for. The alternative is tax deductions that do no good for the poorest Americans, who do not pay enough income tax to benefit. That's why McCain's health plan (which I oppose for other reasons) provides for a tax credit in exchange for eliminating the tax exemption for employer-provided health insurance.

What do you propose as an alternative? Direct payments that bypass the tax system? Or leaving the poor to face a libertarian sink-or-swim social policy? I hope not the latter. Ebenezer Scrooge summed up that position best: "Are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses?"

[sposton]

I don't think conservatives any longer exist. Oh, they may call themselves "conservatives" but the majority have morphed themselves into neo-fascists. Who cares what these "conservatives" think? We should think and talk about what the rest of us ought to do to undo the damage that these brown shirts have unleashed onto us.

[Pdubya]

there are at least 2.2 million of us. we supported Ron Paul. we continue to fight and grow. most have libertarian influences. we share many concerns with anti-war and civil liberty loving liberals.

and it is that remnant that represents commonality, americanism, and activism for preserving our constitution and sovereignty.

why don't you roll up your sleeves and join us?

www.campaignforliberty.com

[sposton]

I respect Ron Paul. It would be nice if Americans were to disagree on how best to achieve laudable goals like peace, justice, prosperity, health,... We have been artificially divided so that we can be easily manipulated into supporting policies that are in the best interest our kleptocratic class.