Republicans figure that if they can't sell the pig, they'll just put lipstick on it and find some suckers who will think it's something else.
That's the proposal emerging in the Senate from Republican Bob Corker of Tennessee and also Democrat Claire McCaskill of Missouri. It would get the deficit down not by raising taxes on the rich but by capping federal spending.
If Congress failed to stay under the cap, the budget would be automatically cut.
According to an analysis by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the McCaskill/Corker plan would require $800 billion of cuts in 2022 alone. That's the equivalent of eliminating Medicare entirely, or the entire Department of Defense.
Obviously the Defense Department wouldn't disappear, so what would go? Giant cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, education, and much of everything else Americans depend on.
It's the Republican plan with lipstick. It would have the same exact result. But by disguising it with caps and procedures, Republicans can avoid saying what they're intending to do.
The McCaskill/Corker spending cap would also make it impossible for government to boost the economy in recessions. Which would mean even higher unemployment, lasting longer.
Other Senate Dems are showing interest in the lipsticked pig, including West Virginia's Joe Manchin. Not surpringly, Joe Lieberman is on board.
But don't be fooled, and don't let anyone else be. McCaskill/Corker is the same Republican pig.
Robert Reich is the author of Aftershock: The Next Economy and America's Future, now in bookstores. This post originally appeared at RobertReich.org.
Scott Paul: It's the Economy, Stupid: Version 2011
Beware the "new Democrats" they call themselves progressives, but they are corporatist DLC retreads. Do you homework, vote for the real FDR,Ike, Kucinich, Dean, Grayson Progressive folks, and watch out for the fakes and sellouts.
I know that are LOTS of Republican's out there on Medicaid/Medicare. If you REALLY value those benefits and rely on them then PLEASE change your vote. Don't vote Republican because it's harming yourself. (maybe that would be a great bumper sticker?)
Funny...
1. Poor Americans do pay taxes.
2. The wealthiest Americans don’t carry the burden.
3. In fact, the wealthy are paying less taxes.
4. Many of the very richest pay no current income taxes at all.
5. And (surprise!ÂÂ) since Reagan, only the wealthy have gained significanÂÂt income.
6. When it comes to corporatioÂÂns, the story is much the same—less taxes.
7.Some corporate tax breaks destroy jobs.
8. RepublicanÂÂs like taxes too.
9. Other countries do it better.
http://www.wweek.com/portland/article-17350-9_things_the_rich_dont_want_you_to_know_about_taxes.html
1) Poor Americans pay less in taxes than their european counterparts
2) Wealthy Americans pay more in taxes than their european counterparts, and disproportionately.
3) Wealthy are paying more taxes, by any statistical measurement
4) Could be true, depending on the structure
5) Partially true, primary culprit is hardly partisan and rather globalization, of which Clinton/Greenspan pushed further and faster than any other.
6) Sometimes, which is why a flat rate with minimal deductions for both personal/corps is better
7) Destroy? No. Relocate? Perhaps.
8) err? Maybe.
Warner made clear he is opposed to the House Republican 2012 budget’s reliance on cuts to Medicare—he called it a “massive transfer of responsibility onto our seniors”–
Please take note of the following:
Senate homeland security subcommittee on federal financial management:
“Wednesday’s hearing was chaired by Democratic Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware. “When we have estimates of more than $47 billion in overpayments, and potentially tens of billions of dollars in fraud within Medicare and Medicaid, there is a lot of opportunity to improve the way government oversees these vital health care programs,” he said.”
That is enough cash to fill a stadium.
or $1 tax free?
I am so tired of the moral and intellectual pygmies running this country into the ground that I have trouble finding words for it any more. More than 80% of the country favors increasing taxes on the rich (source: poll reported on TRMS) and a solid majority favors significant reductions in war, err, "defense" spending. So of course those are the first things taken off the table by these poltroons.
In the words of Popeye the Sailor, I yam disgustipated.
Not a surprising result when less than 50% of the country are actually paying taxes...
Your claim is old and tired, not to mention not being true.
Here's a link: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040tt.pdf
“A smaller government workforce increases the available supply of educated, skilled workers for private firms, thus lowering labor costs.”
For those who have a slight grasp of economics this is astonishinÂÂÂg. Let me explain, labor costs = American wages. By increasing the supply of labor, wages decrease. This is basic economics of supply and demand. So the way the RepublicanÂÂÂs want to create jobs in America is to saturate the American labor pool with more workers, increasing unemploymeÂÂÂnt, and driving down the American standard of living.
www.speaker.gov/UploadedFiles/JEC_Jobs_Study.pdf
MY 4TH GRAD GRANDSON COULD FIGURE OUT THAT ONE IN TWO MINUTES. LOWER WAGES AND MORE UNEMPLOYMENT!
Our nation cannot slash its way to greatness, particularly with regards to domestic spending. Overseass we should exploit the Osama dividend and rethink our strategic role in the world as we currently spend more than the rest of the planet combined, yet we showed that a relatively low budget operation delivered the goods. At home we need to do whatever it takes to create jobs and boost federal tax revenues, giving us the flexibility to address long term problems without suicidal (self-defeating) austerity measures. Cutting social programs will stagnate the economy; infrastructure jobs will get us rolling.
If we act like adults, at the point that unemployment hits 4% we should restructure our federal budget: revenues = current spending plus amortization of the debt and projected costs of the entitlements programs. We cannot mechanistically put a cap on spending without risking another economic meltdown, but we can demand that our legislators behave openly and responsibly. (That could happen!)
and anyone is surprised by the lack of scruples and ethics, how?
next time one of these so called "christian" GoP types talks about cutting safety net programs , you only have to say one thing to them...ask them how they reconcile their position with Matthew 25:40
that's checkmate