Editorial

If each of us can be, by dint of citizenship, considered stockholders in America, then in the past two years the current board of directors has made chumps of us all.

When George W. Bush was selected for the presidency by a 5-4 majority of the U.S. Supreme Court, the outgoing Democratic Administration of the much-maligned William J. Clinton left us, the American stockholders, with a budget surplus approaching $100 billion. And he left us with employment at such record heights that employers were interviewing virtually anyone who expressed an interest in a job, and were paying premiums and incentives to retain the people they already employed.

Employers weren’t very happy. Today they are more comfortable.

Now, less than three years later, the Republican Administration of Pres. Bush has disposed of the budget surplus and, by recent estimates, has created a national debt of close to $200 billion, with higher numbers expected due to the Iraq war. This is some $300 billion that the Republicans, who are fond of proclaiming themselves fiscally conservative money managers, have managed to dispense with in about 30 months, or two and a half years.

But that money hasn’t trickled down. Our economy is drying up.

All the major cities, especially in the Northeast, are so desperate for cash that they are looking at all types of revenue generation, from additional parking tickets to enforcement of seat belt laws, and so forth. And most of the states, especially the great industrial states, are also feeling the pinch and tightening their school reimbursements and public service budgets.

Cutbacks are everywhere.

Employers no longer have to worry about finding employees. They not only have the pick of top candidates, but they can negotiate lower salaries and benefits, even among their current employees.

And now, in the midst of such a remarkable downturn, America’s current board of directors, the Bush Administration and the GOP dominated Congress, has moved to drastically cut America’s revenue.

America’s revenue, of course, is largely derived from us, in the form of an overwhelming array of taxes, and therefore it’s very alluring to hear that our personal taxes may be lowered, especially our income taxes. But if we are the economic backbone of revenue for the corporation, we are also the majority stockholders of America and we ought to be able to tell when our business is being run poorly.

Could any business be expected to be healthy or survive if at the very point where it slips into debt its owners or managers purposefully cut its revenue generation?

We are chumps indeed if we accept the cynical arguments which support such upside-down economics.

- We are told that each of these progressively larger tax cuts will kick-start the economy, because the rich will have more money with which to invest, which will create jobs. Be calm, we are told, it will all trickle down in time. Meanwhile unemployment rises and the average person’s cost of living goes up, but there is no sign of even the moisture of investment, let alone a trickle. But the well off aren’t hesitating to show the benefits of tax relief; luxury car sales are way up, as reflected by the increasing number of ads for vehicles that retail for $70,000 or more. The same is true of luxury homes, and all other visibly high-dollar consumer items.

- We are told the current economic conditions really started during the booming Democratic years, despite clear evidence to the contrary. But even if that were the case, what action did America’s board of directors take to counter problems in any sector of the economy that was faltering? The idea of laissez faire economics didn’t die with Herbert Hoover, and clearly the GOP learned no lessons from The Great Depression.

- We are told it was the Islamic assault on 9/11 and the subsequent wars that caused most of the expense, yet the cost of the new Homeland Security Act and of our military action is well known and doesn’t account for the economic downturn. Of further interest, if we weren’t being chumps, would be questions to the board of directors as to why this war footing has not pumped up the economy, as other wars have done.

And we are told much more as well, from a general media that again shows itself unwilling to be critical of Republicans, especially Conservative Republicans. To those that doubt the truth of that assessment, and especially to those who believe the myth of a ‘liberal press,’ it should only be necessary to ask what they think would be the tone of the media if a Democratic Administration was currently in charge?

And wouldn’t that question be directed at the president every day from every angle?

Wouldn’t we hear that it is criminal to run a deficit, especially an ever-increasing one? Wouldn’t we hear talk of liberal spending and the need to cut back on social programs, etc.?

Wouldn’t we hear how Democratic irresponsibility is about to bankrupt us?

And wouldn’t we hear such media clamor, with more and more vitriolic editorial attacks pointed toward the CEO – the president – day in and day out?

Well, it’s certainly quieter with the Republicans in the boardroom of America. And after all, the GOP is bringing us the program cutbacks, at least in public services, social programs and tax monies returned to the states, etc., etc.

But it is the absolute depth of the Republican cynicism that is most remarkable. On the national level, and perhaps increasingly on the local level as well, they seem to truly believe that you can fool most of the people all the time. And perhaps their confidence is well rooted. It was only in the mid-Nineties when Newt Gingrich led the GOP into a new neo-conservative power with a war cry demanding a balanced budget.

Americans voted Gingrich and his followers in to protect their corporate shares. And the voters got what they wanted, ironically in the end it was more from Pres. Clinton’s management than from Congressional efforts, but what most agreed was needed, happened; the budget was balanced, a surplus was created.

Now the GOP implies it doesn’t matter. An unbalanced budget is okay, we know economics, they say. Trust us, they declare!

Well, if we do we are indeed the chumps they think we are, and if so, then it’s true that we can be fooled all the time, and we let our opportunities for improvement slip through our fingers.

Publisher’s Note: The Washington Post recently reported that “according to data from the Urban Institute-Brookings Tax Policy Center, taxpayers who make more than $1 million a year will enjoy an average tax cut of $93,500.00 this year…the average tax cut for households in the middle of the income spectrum will be $217.00.”

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