Fear, Loathing, and Trickle-Down
GOP fraud is fun and rewarding.
These days everything is political.
A person should have control of their own body. No they shouldn’t!
A person should be able to own an assault rifle. No! -there’s too much senseless violence and death already.
Climate change requires bold action. No it doesn’t, it’s a hoax!
An education should be based upon facts. No! -Facts aren’t patriotic enough and could hurt people’s feelings!
Voting should be encouraged and easy. No! -Too many people are voting, voting is stupid.
We need a responsible pathway for citizenship. No! Criminals are flowing through open borders selling drugs and stealing our executive jobs!
Affirmative action is important to recognize and remedy generations of systemic racism. No! -even the Supreme Court ruled we are a post-race society and no longer need voting rights protections.
Medicare should be expanded. No! -I want government out of healthcare (except for pregnancy) -and I want private equity, insurance executives, institutional investors, and Wall Street to make medical decisions -not doctors or public health experts.
Everything is a political argument these days. Not to be confused with general arguments (as famously established by Monty Python’s Argument Clinic).
Growing up it was the Dodgers vs. the Giants. The Lakers vs. the Celtics. The Rams vs. -just kidding, no one in Los Angeles cared about the Rams. Politics was simply a battleground fought over economics.
Before everything was politicized there were key differences between liberal and conservative economists. Balanced budgets versus deficit spending, infrastructure investment, defense spending, taxation, and the level of governmental regulation and enforcement.
Reagan
I hate to break this news to my conservative friends. Reagan was an idiot guided by astrology, his wealthy friends, and sinister political operatives. Prior to his elevation to the political stage he was co-star to Bonzo.
Slashing Taxes -a Cornerstone of “Trickle-Down Economics”
Based on the theory that when the ultra-wealthy have amassed more wealth they will direct it toward funding new businesses which can grow into entire new industries that will employ thousands of Americans with well-paying jobs, great benefits, and “a rising tide lifts all boats” Reagan initiated massive tax cuts in 1981. The personal income tax rate dropped from 70% to 50% (and then to 28% in 1986), capital gains taxes (these are important -this is tax on investment returns and most of the ultra-wealthy are not getting a paycheck -or if they are, it’s a tiny percentage of their wealth accumulation) went from 28% to 20%. Estate taxes were reduced from 70% to 55%. Corporate taxes were reduced from 46% to 34%
Think of it this way. If my investments made $100 million dollars in 1982, prior to Reagan I would have paid $28 million in capital gains taxes. Reagan cut that to $20 million. So I could pay $20 million in taxes, contribute $4 million to Reagan and the GOP (or, say, the Heritage Foundation), and still be ahead.
While the U.S. experienced economic growth during the Reagan years the National debt tripled under his Administration.
Q: When you triple the debt, and slash taxes for corporations and the ultra-wealthy who ultimately pays for that debt?
Circle one, and show your work:
A: Workers and their families -who then pay a larger percentage of taxes compared to the ultra-wealthy.
B: The vulnerable, whose social safety net is assailed by the GOP because, you know, we need to balance the budget.
C: America. Less money that can be directed toward infrastructure, scientific exploration and research, public education budgets are slashed, and other important programs fall under a budget axe.
D: All of the above.
Did the ultra-wealthy direct investments to building businesses, new industries, revitalizing existing industries and “lift all boats”?
No -but they did buy yachts…
(…and jets, and expansive summer and winter homes while parking massive amounts of money offshore -estimated to be between $5 trillion and $30 trillion dollars) :
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-panama-papers
(Note: The Panama Papers were released in 2016, the Paradise Papers in 2017, and the Pandora Papers in 2021).
Reagan also implemented other policies and took action to concentrate wealth into the hands of a few by weakening unions, destructive comments about public service, racist comments about vital social safety net programs, and shifting the costs of higher education to students and families. Reagan was a great friend to the ultra-wealthy and really put the “POS” in POTUS for everyone else.
A Brief Journey Through Recent History
In 1991 Clinton Administration raised taxes on upper-income taxpayers. According to the GOP this should have led to a massive stock market crash, millions out of work, businesses shuttered, and unemployment at about 90% (as well as meteors striking the Earth, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and dogs and cats signing a peace accord.
The outcome was a balanced federal budget and decreasing the national debt left from the impact of GOP/Reaganomics. The Clinton Administration left the Bush/Cheney Administration with an actual budget surplus. Tell me again who is more fiscally responsible.
https://www.factcheck.org/2008/02/the-budget-and-deficit-under-clinton/
Dubya Doubles Down
George W. Bush cut taxes based upon the theory that trickle-down fraud, I mean, “economics” works wonders, however Bonzo’s stupid human co-star didn’t slash taxes enough for the ultra-wealthy. He then made up a story about WMD in Iraq, invaded two countries, and left the U.S. economy on the precipice of collapse.
President Obama and Taxpayers to the Rescue
The Obama Administration inherited a collapsing U.S. economy from GOP Trickle-Down “fraudnomics”. As the GOP asserted that bold action was necessary to save the “too big to fail” financial system (I guess the nuance between free markets and markets in free fall are intentionally lost on MAGA/GOP) taxpayer funds were used to stabilize the economy. So after Wall Street was bailed out for the disaster they helped cause, it was time to provide relief for the same taxpayers who rescued the economy.
Mitch McConnell and the GOP said NO! So while the economy was saved from collapse, the average person was financially hanging on by a thread. This was strategic from McConnell’s perspective -it made the 2012 elections close, and opened the door for the criminal Trump in 2016. McConnell and the GOP know how to play a long game and how to remake the judicial system while they are waiting to control the White House, Congress, and State governments.
Trump
Trump continued the GOP strategy of slashing taxes with a publicly-stated purpose of “growing the economy”, while knowing privately that it’s intended to exacerbate the concentration of wealth (and thus donations to Trump, MAGA, Heritage Foundation, Federalist Society, and other criminal, extremist, anti-democracy organizations). Corporate taxes were slashed from 35% to 21% while repealing the Alternative Minimum Corporate Tax. This did not result in better wages and benefits for employees. It resulted in massive stock buybacks and rewarded executives and investors, not the average working person. The National debt under the Trump Administration rose from $19.9 Trillion to $27.8 Trillion.
Probably just like Trump Taj Mahal Casino and Resort before it became one of Trump’s numerous bankruptcies. But sure, he and the GOP are better for the economy, just like the fox is better at “guarding the hen house”.
The Biden/Harris Economy
After Trump tax cuts left another deep GOP “Trickle-down” debt crater (https://www.propublica.org/article/national-debt-trump), the Biden/Harris Administration has worked to rebuild the U.S. economy based upon the evidence that the middle-class is the growth engine for America. They have supported policies to strengthen Unions, address student debt, and invest in vital infrastructure, manufacturing, technology, and climate action, while bolstering international trade regions and alliances. While Biden/Harris has been miraculously able to drive important legislation and policy through a band of incompetent MAGA House Representatives many important plans such as student debt forgiveness, legislation intended to strengthen voting rights, immigration reform, and codifying Women’s reproductive rights have been blocked by MAGA extremists in the House, Senate, and Judiciary.
Trickle-down Fraud
What do Trump the convicted felon, “Dubya”, and Bonzo’s idiot co-star Reagan have in common? They all embrace telling America that the way we can all enjoy economic prosperity is by making the ultra-wealthy -wealthier. Just as Trump -who ran (limped?) to a doctor for a note to excuse him from Vietnam for “bone spurs” (and then called U.S. troops who paid the ultimate sacrifice “Losers and Suckers”) can wrap himself in an American flag as an “Instant Patriot” (and use the hallowed ground at Arlington Cemetery in a photo-op).
GOP Trickle-down wraps itself up as an “economic theory”. It’s not. There was once a theory that the Earth was flat. It’s been disproven. That means when people say “the Earth is flat” now they are either lying, or ignorant.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tax-cuts-rich-50-years-no-trickle-down/
https://www.lse.ac.uk/research/research-for-the-world/economics/tax-cuts-for-the-wealthy-only-benefit-the-rich-debunking-trickle-down-economics
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/09/why-is-trickle-down-economics-still-with-us
https://www.faireconomy.org/trickle_down_economics_four_reasons
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-bad-is-inequality-trickle-down-economics-thomas-piketty-economists-2021-12
The only people telling you that this works are either the billionaires who are enriched by wealth concentration policies, or the people they buy and send to elected office. It is fraud perpetrated upon all of us by those who have accumulated obscene wealth.
Outcomes
When I entered the workforce, first as an actuary, and then a couple of years later as a technologist in the early 1980’s
(yes, electricity and indoor plumbing existed way back then), you could afford a decent apartment for less than $600/month, health insurance, groceries, transportation, and even budget and save money for a down payment on a home (which then averaged about $60,000 -the purchase price, not the down payment). Tuition at public universities averaged $1,300/year. Many employers paid most (or all) of your health insurance premiums, and the plans actually covered many services without a “co-pay”. Many employers even provided pension and profit sharing plans intended to supplement your retirement income with Social Security.
All of this translated into someone entering the workforce who was reasonably well-educated, yet not burdened by massive student loan debt with a lifetime of payments to predators like Betsy DeVos, you could have a car, a decent place to live, and be able to put money aside for the future. While there was still an employer/employee relationship, there was a shared economic stake in your health and well-being (thanks to Unions -whether you were in one or not).
To compare, in 2024, while salaries are higher, they have not increased with living costs. Average college/university tuition went from $1,318/year to $11,260/year. Healthcare insurance went from less than $100/month to $650/month -and significant costs in the form of co-pays, denied claims, and deductibles mean your healthcare costs have exploded well beyond the insurance outlay. And the average cost of a starter home has gone from $60K to $800K.
People are correct to be frustrated and angry. However Fox “News” tells them that their lack of upward mobility and economic retrenchment is due to people pouring into the country illegally and presumably taking all of the best high-paying executive positions (not exploited while doing backbreaking work in agricultural fields), a bloated intrusive government (performing worthless tasks like food safety inspections), the pension plans of teachers, and the strangling constraints of environmental protections. And so the “Moral Majority” becomes the “Tea Party” becomes “MAGA” -because the anger and frustration are real and then misdirected by the wealthy -so the angry and frustrated just become useful idiots. As long as we are fighting each other -they know we won’t turn our attention and anger toward where it firmly belongs.
This is the result of over 40 years of GOP economic wealth-concentration policy occasionally briefly overcome by those few times a Democratic President aligned with a Congressional majority. I repeat, Reagan/Trump/GOP Trickle-Down policies are a massive fraudulent scheme that simply shifts more wealth to their ultra-wealthy benefactors. The GOP/Wealth playbook (also gleefully repeated in “Red”-controlled States) is to slash taxes for the wealthy. Then claim “SURPRISE! -we have a huge budget deficit! We must cut funding for education, community investment, programs for the most vulnerable, and of course for PBS’ Big Bird.
Reagan/Trump/GOP Trickle-down fraud is repeated as necessary at the Federal and State levels and steals from all of us while robbing our children, grandchildren, and generations yet to come of their opportunity and quality of life. And it will continue to do so, unabated, until the entire voting population understands and acts accordingly.
A brilliant history of trickle down but up economics, George. I wish every voter knew the truth. The Republicans today are not the ones my grandparents knew. They were vote Republican straight ticket while my mother drew a line and we all became Democrats before the 1960 election.
Well, George, these are facts that have been getting under my skin for years. I wish I could explain them as well to everyone I talk to about voting. But I will try!
I would love to see this post printed in newspapers across the country. Maybe some of the current" republicans" know how to read.