After a longish, over 2 year break, Connections is set to rumble on into a challenging future. Sad it is that the issues and articles from over 2 years ago are the same – only more dire. Moving forward, we must use information at hand to educate our friends, relatives and neighbors on issues of literal life and death. Since our last postings, we have seen an unelected and unaccountable Supreme Court transfer even more power from Congress to itself and to the President – through the Dobbs, Chevron and Trump immunity cases. Meanwhile, all media is distracted from covering a boldly unhidden fascist Trump threat in order to cover an obviously aging Biden. Which is the greater threat to our future, you decide. We know where the media stands. We can use verified real information to counter rumor and lies. Our work continues.
So, let’s begin with something any true conservative should agree with – living within our means.
Paying the bill – is something responsible adults do
Being fiscally conservative means not spending beyond your income. Through the past 40 years, our Federal government has not been fiscally conservative.
Starting with Reagan tax cuts, Republicans have driven deficits higher by cutting revenue (passing tax cuts (W Bush and Trump) while promising economic growth that never brought in the promised tax revenue) and increasing spending – mostly military and interest on the debt.
When in power, Democrats also see deficits increase – but try to stem the damage by increasing taxes – mostly on the wealthy and, most recently, increasing spending on the IRS – which will result in getting the rich to actually pay the taxes they owe.
A recent telling Republican ploy is to pay for increased military spending (Israel $16 billion, on top of the $3.8 annual billion the US provides) by decreasing the IRS budget in the same amount: this increases the deficit in two classic “conservative” ways – more military and less tax revenue through decreased tax law enforcement.
At some point, the American people need to say enough. The well-off in this country (those making $400,000 and above) need to pay their fair share. After World War II, the top marginal tax rate on highest earners was 90% – set in order to pay off the colossal wartime debt that had accrued. We now in a more dire situation, accumulating overwhelming debts: governmentally ($33 trillion), individually (student, mortgage and credit card), and environmentally (carbon accumulation and military destruction that requires re-building).
The only reason these debts are considered “crises” is that we are told that the only solution is to cut services to the 99% of us who are already sufficiently taxed. For example, the “social security crisis” is easily solved by lifting the cap on taxable income from the current $150,000. Such a change would make the fund solvent into the next century. Medicare could increase its tax rate from the current 1.45% to 2.9%, also making that fund solvent. Remember that these two programs – Social Security and Medicare – are accounted for in two separate funds paid for by dedicated payroll taxes. Changing these dedicated tax amounts to make the funds balance is both simple and would not be noticed by anyone but those who can afford to
The general Operating fund that pays for military and other discretionary spending is funded by personal and corporate income taxes, taxes on capital gains and the like. Normal media reporting likes to combine the Social Security and Medicare funds with the Operating fund, in order to mask the fact that the operating fund has consistently borrowed from Social Security, making the Operating deficit seem misleadingly lower. The argument is then made that we need to cut Social Security and Medicare to fix the Operating deficit. Wrong. Fixing the Operating deficit begins with reversing the unfunded $2 trillion in Trump tax cuts and by cutting military spending by $200 billion annually (which would still have the US spending more than the next 6 countries combined – and would make for a more peaceful planet).
There are many solutions, but we need to begin by believing it is perfectly normal to raise taxes on those able to pay – it’s how we got out of our WWII debt and is what began the longest economic expansion in this country’s history.