The major problem with the modern GOP is they claim to be fiscally conservative but are really very fiscally irresponsible. Politically they know that tax cuts play to their base. They also know that when their base screams for “spending cuts” what their base means is “cut everyone’s benefits but MINE”. Cutting Medicare and social security—which needs to happen right NOW and which needs to be applied to BOOMERS and CURRENT retirees—would be political suicide for the GOP despite all their rhetoric on spending. Thus, the major problem with GOP tax cuts is they NEVER “get to govt spending cuts” that they promise and they never will.
How dumb are people? Why do they forget so quickly? The modern GOP is NOT fiscally conservative. They have cut taxes before—several times in most of our lifetimes—and they NEVER get to cutting spending.
I suppose a tax cut would be fine IF they passed legislation slashing government spending FIRST. In other words, cut spending by X amount so they know how much less revenue they’ll be taking in and then give X amount back to tax payers. But that’s not what happens. We’ve seen this playbook before—recently.
The GOP controlled both houses of Congress AND had a GOP POTUS for 6 of the 8 Bush II years—this was not that long ago, the early 2000s. They passed a massive tax cut. What else did they do? Well they 1) said the tax cuts would “pay for themselves by driving economic growth (aka magical thinking) 2) they simultaneously MASSIVELY INCREASED government spending!
What happened? We had a short term boom followed by a MASSIVE economic collapse AND a MASSIVE increase in the national debt. But since the economic collapse happened several years later dumb people with short attention spans that are obsessed with tax cuts who think that the minute tax legislation is passed the full effect of said tax legislation is felt—are and where mentally unable to connect the collapse to the very bad tax & spend policies of the GOP.
So, what is happening now? 1) the GOP is saying the same thing about “tax cuts paying for themselves” by driving economic growth 2) CEOs are smart and know that if they throw peons short term benefits (like a one time bonus rather than a permanent increase in worker salaries...which are peanuts to the CEOs and which do nothing to address the real issue of wage stagnation) that they can connect that to the tax cuts and say “see trickle down works! What’s good for corporations is good for individuals”...meanwhile those same corporations pocket > 90% of the benefit from the tax cut 3) the GOP is proposing MASSIVE increases in defense spending, infrastructure spending, and spending for a southern “boarder” wall with no plan to pay for any of it.
These tax cuts will have the same effect as prior cuts—a huge increase in the national debt and an eventual economic collapse that disproportionately effects individuals (who, yeah, got a short term increase in $) while corporations make out like bandits (their cuts are permanent). Plus, all the benefits (short term) will be attributed to the current admin, while the long term effects will be blamed on whomever is in office when the $hit hits the fan in several years.
Why do you tax obsess Morans not understand that at this point in our history the ONLY rational approach is an INCREASE in taxes coupled with a DECREASE in spending. We owe too much already to get tax cuts. Tax cuts are a bad idea, fiscally irresponsible, and morally reprehensible.