For many years, I have regretted not paying closer attention during economics courses in high school and college. I don't know why, but economics didn't use to interest me that much. The textbooks were dry and uninteresting plus the teachers who taught the econ courses I took were rather dry and uninteresting too. So, I ended up muddling my way to Cs or lower.
Because I didn't pay that close attention then, I only halfway understand the intricacies now. I can easily grasp many of the general issues, but I certainly don't understand much of the mechanics and minutiae.
I offer this information as a preface to an article I read, Our Phony Budget Battles Are All Smoke and Mirrors, by Richard D. Wolff. He makes a point that I had never really considered before.
Wolff makes a great case that neither the GOP nor the Democrats are as serious about real deficit reduction as they appear to be. For that reason alone, I highly recommend you use the link provided to read the entire article.
Because I didn't pay that close attention then, I only halfway understand the intricacies now. I can easily grasp many of the general issues, but I certainly don't understand much of the mechanics and minutiae.
I offer this information as a preface to an article I read, Our Phony Budget Battles Are All Smoke and Mirrors, by Richard D. Wolff. He makes a point that I had never really considered before.
First, if the government taxed corporations and the wealthiest individuals more, it could maintain high spending without having to incur huge deficits. One recent calculation showed that if corporations and individuals earning over $1,000,000 per year paid the same rate of taxes today as they paid in 1961, the US Treasury would collect an addition $716 billion per year. That would cut the 2011 deficit by half and likewise its interest costs. Second, consider who lends to the US government. Major creditors include the People's Republic of China, Japan, large corporations and wealthy individuals in the US and abroad. The greater our deficits, the more of everyone's taxes go to pay interest to those creditors. Third, consider the basic injustice of deficits: (1) Washington taxes corporations and the rich far less than it used to in, say, the 1960s, (2) Washington therefore runs a deficit and (3) the US Treasury then borrows from corporations and the rich the money that the government allowed them not to pay in taxes...In other words, however you slice it, the ruling elites wind up with our money. In this case, they slap us in the face by eviscerating the services and programs we depend on and then, to add insult to injury, we have to pay them back with interest for the privilege of being slapped in the face!! No wonder the oligarchy isn't serious about changing the status quo -- We're paying them royally to abuse us.
Wolff makes a great case that neither the GOP nor the Democrats are as serious about real deficit reduction as they appear to be. For that reason alone, I highly recommend you use the link provided to read the entire article.
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