The congressional Republicans continue to cling to their failed economic policy -- the "trickle-down" policy that says if the rich are given more then everyone will benefit. That policy has tilted the economic playing field to favor the rich -- resulting in stagnant worker wages, growing income for management and wonders, a widening gap between the rich and everyone else, a shrinking middle class, and a recession that still lingers for everyone but the rich.
In order to cling to that failed economic policies, they tell two huge lies to the American public. They must tell these lies, or admit that their policy is a failure (something they refuse to do).
The first lie is that tax cuts for the rich (and corporations) creates new jobs. They would have people believe that cutting taxes for the rich and corporations results in them going out and hiring new people. The problem is that doesn't happen. The rich are making more money than ever before, and corporations (also making record profits) are sitting on trillions of dollars. If "trickle-down" works, why are millions of new jobs not being created?
The second lie is that raising the minimum wage will cause huge lay-offs of workers. The problem with this is that multiple studies have shown that raising the minimum wage does not result in job losses. In fact, the states that raised their minimum wage last year have shown better job growth than the states that didn't. Why?
The answer lies in a simple business rule -- hire only the number of workers that allows you to deliver the goods you produce or services you provide effectively. A business that hires too many workers will just cut into their profit without getting any real benefit from it. A business that hires too few workers will hurt their own customer service and drive those unhappy customers to a competitor. To maximize profits (which is the goal of all businesses), a business must hire the right amount of workers (i.e., only the amount needed). And a business will do this regardless of how high (or low) the taxes are, or what the minimum wage level is.
What does produce new jobs? Only one thing -- an increase in demand for the goods/services a business sells. Cutting taxes for the rich or corporations does not increase demand, and neither does keeping the minimum wage at a poverty level. These things may sound reasonable to the uneducated, but they are just lies -- lies that Republicans tell to protect their favoritism for the rich and powerful.
I like Noah Smith's idea of low hanging fruit. He says let's assume that Reagan's tax cuts and deregulation helped the economy. That was low hanging fruit. You aren't going to get the same impact from yet another tax cat, yet more deregulation. Of course, the evidence is that Reagan's policy changes did not have the claimed effects. So the whole thing is ridiculous. How many Kansas and Louisiana "miracles" do we need before people wake up?
ReplyDeletePeople hate themselves! That can be the only reason the vote rePUKEian!!!
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