From The Ramparts

   

                                                              From The Ramparts

                                                            Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                                               The Tax Cut Scam

            "The reality is that years of massive deficits, runaway government spending, artificially low-interest rates, and three rounds of quantitative easing, have left the economy so sick that any tax cut large enough to revive it may actually kill it instead. The only silver lining to this cloud may be that the coming fiscal train wreck leaves lawmakers no choice but to slash government spending. If the real Republican agenda is to starve the beast, its success is assured." Peter Schiff, http://patriotrising.com/2017/05/01/tax-cut-big-enough-save-economy-may-kill-instead-says-peter-schiff/

            I don't profess to be an economist, a tax expert or and big time financial analyst but it seems to me the Trump tax cut plan is a scam that will do the same thing the Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush tax cuts did, give a gigantic boost to the already rich while skyrocketing government deficits and debt. The United States is fiscally bankrupt our government spends far more than it take in from taxes, tariffs, leases and other forms or revenue.

            You know yourself if you spend more money than you earn by using credit cards and refinancing your home your wealth diminishes and your balance sheet will be out of whack, so image what it means for a country to be in hock over its head. This situation would be catastrophic except for the fact the US treasury can get money from the Federal Reserve Bank anytime it needs it, but obviously at a cost since it is really a loan; sort of legalized (due to the legislation that created the Federal Reserve bank in 1913) counterfeiting.

            Continuous deficits are really unsustainable but the federal government simply borrows the money to keep operating even though they know it is putting us in a deeper fiscal hole. "For example, in 2015, the federal government ran a cash deficit of $438 billion—after collecting $3,250 billion in revenues and spending $3,688 billion. The continuous level of deficit spending has increased public debt, which, during the same period, rose from 33.7 percent to 73.6 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP)." http://www.heritage.org/budget-and-spending/report/causes-the-federal-governments-unsustainable-spending 

            This means the government debt level is almost as much as the total amount of goods and services produced in this country! We are fast approaching the point where public debt will overtake and surpass the total productivity of this nation! Not that that's too hard to do since the US has been deindustrialized, the jobs sent overseas and casino                     capitalism is the rage.

             Now Trump is coming with his tax reduction plan, a plan ambiguous in details but praised by the rich because it lowers their taxes! Trump's tax plan has been formulated by the rich for the rich. http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-trump-tax-plan-more-money-for-the-oligarchs/5587786  This will produce a declining standard of living for most Americans. The Republican agenda (which is also supported by many Democrats) is to cut and eventually gut social programs like Social Security and Medicare while continuously funding wars (fueled by the totally bogus war on terrorism), massive corporate subsidies and welfare for the rich.

            Due to corporate media propaganda, government brainwashing and mind control we suffer from shortened memories and an absence of critical thinking; so we fail to connect the dots about how tax cuts for the rich championed and passed by Ronald Reagan, George W. Bu$h and Congress created huge benefits for the rich, massive government deficits but failed to manifest the ballyhooed jobs and trickle down benefits for the rest of us. Trump's plan will do the exact same thing especially given the Republican plan to cut the so called entitlement programs. By the way "entitlement programs" are programs we pay or paid into while we were working, that our Congress critters don't have to pay into because their plans are funded by us (in addition to the bribes and contributions they receive) and are much much better!

            We are facing a lose lose situation here. This alarming ratio of rising government (and personal) debt to shrinking GDP is unsustainable in the long run and this doesn't include the dire fiscal situation faced by cities, counties and state governments and their pension plans. Demand a full airing and accounting of the proposed tax cuts lest we see a repeat of the Reagan and Bu$h policies.

                                                            -30-