Here’s a preview of the coming propaganda war masquerading as the 2012 Presidential election.
Perhaps it’s unfair to select a column from a progressive as straw man. There are lots of other writers to choose from, including mirrors on the right. But the basics are the same. Progressives are to economics what children are to nutrition – I only eat what I like and if I haven’t tasted it before, I don’t like it. Republicans are no different.
Raise America’s Taxes by Nicholas D. Kristof NYT, April 13, 2011
The starting fallacy in the column is that the budget was balanced under Clinton when the dot-com bubble inflated Federal coffers beyond the wildest progressive’s dream. Entitlements were just as out of control then as now, with $trillions in unfunded liabilities.
We all know the truth: we cannot balance the budget, pay for the services we want and pay down the debt unless we raise revenue. The second truth, well known by all, is that no amount of new taxes will solve the problem. The third truth is that no matter what the rich contribute, the middle class will eventually have to pay off the debt – this generation or the next one, likely both.
Next, Kristof moves to “three fallacies.” In other words, what the lying liars on the other side claim.
1. Republicans are the party of responsible financial stewardship.
I agree – this is a fallacy. Fiscal conservatives are the responsible ones. There used to be many, now there are too few. Blue Dogs were especially hard hit by Obamacare in November – by the design of Democratic leadership, in my view. The Tea Party doesn’t have a fiscal clue and the “main stream” Republican Party has replaced conservatives with this destructive new breed of libertarian loonies and Bible-thumping Johnny-one-notes.
2. Low tax rates are essential to create incentives for economic growth.
This is not a fallacy, it’s a basic truth.
But it’s also true that Republicans use the concept as both a political club and a panacea for every problem in politics.
Kristof types try to make a case that taxes don’t matter while Republicans start wars and create new entitlements without paying for them. Now it’s “tax and spend” vs “spend and don’t tax”. In which eye shall I insert my thumb, sir?
3. We can’t afford Medicare.
This is true. The real fallacy is that government healthcare is affordable anywhere. A second fallacy is that Medicaid isn’t part of Medicare. The third fallacy is that these programs aren’t necessary and here to stay.
Everyone acknowledges that the root problem, here and in every other nation, is that medical costs are rising far faster than the economy. However, nobody is doing anything about that. Ryan’s vouchers do not address the problem in any way. Best practices – aka rationing, aka death panels – are absolutely necessary but have nothing to do with addressing rising costs.
Kristof is right; nobody knows how to address the root problem – anywhere in the world. There are ideas in the Ryan plan and in Obamacare but those are buried so deeply under the partisan debate that nothing can happen.
Kristof closed with the left side’s bumper sticker: Raise My Taxes. The other side’s sticker will say: Read My Lips – No New Taxes. It’s going to be a long year and a half until November 2012.
Any politician that utters either slogan should be voted out of the way, even if we have to write in Alfred E. Newman.
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