Eat the Poor

The Republican party has found a new manifestation for its hypocrisy: taxes! Yes, the anathema of everything conservative is now a rallying call; we should tax the poor.  

There is something morally unjust about asking the people who make the least to pay more when the people who make the most are already not paying their fair share.  It's especially troubling that the same people who insist on taxing the poor are sheltering the rich - it's ironic that calls for equality are met with cries of class warfare, but decisions that are immoral can be somehow spun as "fair."

Moral qualms aside, this policy only serves to exacerbate the gross economic disparities that exist in America.  First of all, though many Americans don't pay income tax, those who don't are paying other taxes, including higher rates on payroll taxes.  More importantly however, the global economy is buoyed by the American consumer.  As the American consumer goes, so too goes global demand and production.  A flat tax sounds nice and all, but when take more money from the poor to line the pockets of the rich, all we have done is put the American consumer in peril.  

It's easy to criticize the Republican party on issues of morals and ethics, the party's stance on social issues is an embarrassment to a country that prides itself on freedom and equality.  But conservatives have always made the economy their bread and butter issue.  Conservative economic principle, we are told, create jobs and lead to wealth and prosperity.  In truth, the Republican economic gospel has led to a nation-threatening disparity between the haves and the have-nots.  The "Occupy Wall Street" protestors may be leaderless and silly, but they're right that the system is benefiting the few at the expense of the many.  Ultimately of course, that is oxymoronic since, as Elizabeth Warren has pointed out, no one in America got rich on their own.  The few can only benefit for so long before inequalities in the system bring the whole thing crashing down.  Good policy would help create truly robust economy would empower the working and middle class Americans and provide them with jobs that allow their consumption to sustain our system.  Eating the poor does not achieve this end; in no way is it good policy.  America needs rich people; greed is good insofar as it drives the system, but when the system is perverted, serving only a small handful of people, it will ultimately fail.  Republican policies have led us to this point and the continuation of those policies will only make the problems worse.  

As I like to point out, there are people who make 50x what I do, but none of those people have 50x as many cars, none of them eat 50x as much food, and - while their clothes may be more expensive, they don't have 50x more clothing than I do or 50x as many baseball gloves or X-Boxes.  Everyone needs to be able to consume for the good of our nation.  We would be wise to implement policies that benefit everyone, by doing so, we will benefit the rich.