Drowning in the Oligarchic Flood
Photo credit: Reuters/Gary Cameron
While headlines scream about Mr. Trump’s supposed disrespectful phone call to the widow of a U.S. Green Beret killed in action in an area not authorized for U.S. troop action, the Senate passed a late evening budget plan (read: attack on Americans not in the upper social strata) on October 19, 2017.
The passage of this budget, though not yet binding, does open the door for the GOP-controlled House to move towards the tax “reform” it’s dreamed about for years through the bill reconciliation process. Once the House and Senate budgets are reconciled, the door will be open for the House to pass the pending tax reform—a massive overhaul that would greatly reduce the tax burden of those at the top, provide very little in tax relief for the middle class and even possibly increase taxes for the poorest of Americans. The exact details of the tax reform bill aren’t known, as the GOP is refusing to work with Democrats in the crafting of the legislation, just as it did with the attempts at health care reform. Chances are that the tax reform plan has been handed to the GOP via libertarian think tanks and there is no “crafting” needed, just blind acceptance in return for the campaign fund tap remaining open.
This a blatant “screw you” to everyone not in the upper class and a further degradation of the democratic process. GOP leadership keeps mouthing the neoliberal lie that huge tax cuts for corporations and the “job creating” 1% will shower the middle class with economic well-being as the capitalists, in their quest to be the gracious benefactors that we are supposed to believe they are, will provide jobs, fair wages and increase the general welfare of everyone. What the hell has been stopping them from doing this for the last 30 years after numerous tax cuts, astronomical increases in the value of stock portfolios and record corporate profits? What has stopped them is the very basic nature of predatory capitalism itself—the bottom line. There is no way that these paragons of “compassionate conservatism”, these captains of industry will be willing to ever part with any of their precious profits.
In the fantasy math of the GOP, the deficit will magically disappear as growth will be unprecedented, spurred by the largesse of the wealthy and their corporations. Let’s get this straight, the projected $1.5 trillion shortfall in tax revenue from this budget and preliminary tax reform will somehow reverse itself via cuts to social safety net programs and then begin to reduce the U.S. debt. All this based on lowering taxes for those who have already accumulated vast personal and family wealth as well as for corporations who are already making record profits and sitting on unprecedented mountains of cash. Amazing. And don’t forget about the ever-increasing empire…er, defense budget.
Face it, the libertarian wealthy, as a class, don’t believe in helping those they view as inferior. They don’t want to alleviate the underpinning problems in our world to create a more egalitarian place where their hegemony would be contested. The economic “haves” will grasp their wealth in their cold, clenching hands, ignoring a world full of “have-not” souls who bear the brunt of the policies that built their wealth, as those pour souls fight and scrounge for every morsel, a place to safely reside and any opportunity to make their lives a bit better. Those whom are pulling the strings, playing the roles of pimps to the political prostitutes residing in the halls of D.C. power, are incredibly dissociated from the lives of the vast majority of the regular denizens of the U.S. Is it that they have such little understanding of what most citizens of the U.S. go through on a daily basis, the struggles most families have just to provide the basics? Or even worse—is it that maybe they really do understand and choose to turn a blind eye to it?
Either way, be it willful ignorance or vicious vendetta on the part of the GOP partisans and their funders, the damage that this budget, along with the ensuing tax reform, would cause is tremendous. The language in the bill calls for a balanced budget within a decade. To achieve this, due to massive projected decreases in tax revenues, it would require huge cuts in budgetary items—most notably Medicare and Medicaid. It would also most likely prune affordable housing, childcare, public transportation and education, among other programs that help to support those who struggle in our current economy. Just like much of the non-Fox media has reported, the tax breaks for the wealthy would be paid for via cuts in the programs that help those who struggle the most.
As Senator Elizabeth Warren sagely noted, “A lot of people think a budget is about numbers. It’s not. It’s really about values.” Using this metric, it shows just how devoid of compassion and caring the GOP has become and just how utterly beholden they are to the wishes of the economic royalty that has them by the…bank account. The budget bill passed also calls for opening up the Arctic Wildlife Preserve for oil exploration, showing yet another of the GOP’s values.
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley tweeted in the aftermath of the late evening bloodletting on the Senate floor, “It’s up to us—all of us—to fight back once again, defeat this destructive GOP tax plan, and stand up for working America. Time to get loud!”
If this budget is adopted by the House, which it most likely will be, and the secretive tax reform plan is enacted, the coming tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, along with the much sought-after nixed estate tax, will further ensconce an aristocracy in the U.S., something that the founders of our country wanted expressly to avoid. It may sound alarmist, it may sound preposterous, but we are facing the end of the democratic essence of our political system and ushering in an era of naked oligarchy. Certain families and political entities have been working for this moment for decades, pouring money into think tanks, lobbying and campaigns to angle their chosen coterie into positions of power. They are on the cusp of succeeding. on the icons above.
