re: #218 RogueOne

Why is it only one parties responsibility? Do the dems have no part in any of this? If we agree that we have to raise taxes and cut spending then why aren’t you holding the dems responsible for putting neither of those proposals on paper?

The fundamental problem is that, over time, a lot of people in the US have been sold a big lie: that they are hard-working “real Americans”, whose money is being stolen to support shiftless no-good “welfare queens”. The reality, of course, as many people on this blog are aware, is that the majority of Americans will rely on social support programs at some point in their lives, and will be worse off under the current Republican proposals than they are now. Indeed, the majority of Americans have not benefitted much (if at all) from economic growth over the past 30 years. It’s only the tiny percentage at the top that has really done well.

So we are now in a situation where, if any politician so much as suggests that taxes should be increased, there is an instant cacophony of JOB KILLING UNAMERICAN ANTI-BUSINESS ECONOMIC SUICIDE. I exaggerate, of course, but not much. So politicians who want to get elected do not talk about such things.

It’s a very difficult situation. On the one hand I think the people who are “at fault” (if you want to assign blame) are those who consistently vote against their own best interests out of fear, or envy, or whatever the motivation is. On the other, they’ve been lied to so much by supposedly responsible people that it’s difficult to say that it’s solely their fault.