http://www.democrats.com/view2.cfm?id=8798

19-Aug-02

"A tax cut for everyone across the board, fair and square. It sounds terrific, doesn't it? That's why the Republicans are so cocky and the Democrats keep their mouth shut. All politicians are afraid to stand up against the 'tax cut' in fear of loosing their seats. It seems that the majority of Americans like the idea of a tax cut without giving it another thought. Yet, there is a secret behind the Republican 'tax cut', which had never been spelled out to the people.... About 80% of Republican tax cut money are going into the pockets of less then 5% of the wealthiest individuals; and only about 20% - to the rest of the working Americans." So writes Stan Newton

Republican Tax Cut Fraud
Stan Newton

A tax cut for everyone across the board, fair and square. It sounds terrific, doesn't it? That's why the Republicans are so cocky and the Democrats keep their mouth shut. All politicians are afraid to stand up against the "tax cut" in fear of loosing their seats. It seems that the majority of Americans like the idea of a tax cut without giving it another thought. Yet, there is a secret behind the Republican "tax cut", which had never been spelled out to the people. So, I invite you all to do some simple math calculations with me.

Let's say we have a worker, who makes $30,000 a year and a CEO, who makes $1,000,000 a year. Let's say that the Republicans would cut all taxes by 10% "across the board". What do we get now? A worker, struggling to pay his bills, will get back $3,000, while the CEO, who makes more money then any average folk, will get back $100,000. Look a bit further and it gets even uglier. Mr. Anderson, who had been milking Enron to the tune of $27,000,000 a year, would get back $2,700,000. And all multi-billion dollar Corporations would get multi-million dollar tax cuts. Is such tax cut "fair and square"?

While the Republicans are flaunting their "tax cut" and the Democrats are afraid to speak out against it, nobody explains to the average folk that about 80% of Republican tax cut money are going into the pockets of less then 5% of the wealthiest individuals; and only about 20% - to the rest of the working Americans.

Looking back at the 12 years of Reagan/Bush Sr. mismanagement, we had seen that it took President Clinton eight years to fix our Economy and to create a surplus. Yet, it took the Republicans just one irresponsible "tax cut" to squander the surplus and to send the Wall Street into a nosedive. To those, who may think that the Reagan/Bush Sr. were "good years", I'd like to remind a few documented facts.

1. Before Mr. Reagan came to power our National debt was in the billions of dollars. After he left – it was in trillions of dollars, borrowed from Japan and Germany. Yet, the year of 1987 was a record year for bankruptcies, foreclosures and unemployment. Where did the trillions go? The answer is - to the same 5% wealthiest Americans, whom the Republicans are always catering to. Under Reagan, they all tripled and quadrupled their fortunes, while the rest of the Country was getting deeper in debt and recession.

2. Do you remember: "Read my lips, no more taxes"? That was Mr. G. Bush's Sr. empty promise to the voters just to get elected. Yet, he did raise our taxes afterwards. So, there we were in 1991 – the trillions of borrowed dollars and the newly raised by Bush Sr. taxes were squandered, our Economy was in shambles amidst unemployment, bankruptcies, foreclosures and all Americans were screaming for change. If those twelve years of "Reagonomics" is not a gross mismanagement, then what is?

The key question is – why is our Economy doing so well under Democrats and so badly under Republicans? Before I answer this question I 'd like to give you a basic crash course on world Economy, which will help you to understand how our Economy works. Every Economy depends on the Government system and the Government fiscal policies. Our American Economy, Western European, South American, African and Asian Economies – they all depend on the Government's policies. The European Economies are usually strong and stable and the South American Economies are always in trouble. Let's observe these two economies, European and South American. Why do the Europeans live so much better then the South Americans? The answer is simple – they have different Government systems. Period.

What do the Europeans have in common? They all have a strong middle class, good social services and progressive taxation, which mean that you pay more taxes if you are making more money. Such system gives the Government enough resources to keep up high standard of living, to provide Medicare and good pension plans for everybody.

What do the South Americans have in common? They all are run by the corrupt elite of wealthy politicians, who are catering to the rich at the expense of the poor. Just like our Republicans. All South American Governments borrow billions of dollars from IMF. Then such loans disappear into secret Swiss accounts. To repay the debt South American politicians squeeze as much money as they can from the poor using the "austerity" policies. When there is nothing more to squeeze out of the poor, they declare a bankruptcy, while keeping all the borrowed money to themselves. Argentina is the best example. Since the end of Military Rule, the power in Argentina had fallen into corrupted hands of wealthy politicians. For over twenty years they had been pillaging their own Country, borrowing billions and spreading the wealth among themselves, while squeezing the workers and the farmers to repay their loans. Such irresponsible policy could not last forever. From the wealthiest South American Country Argentina had turned into a totally bankrupt Nation.

Let's take another example, namely Switzerland. For some five hundred years Switzerland has been the most stable and prosperous Country of our Planet. When I say prosperous, I don't mean individual wealth. I mean the standard of living of all citizens, not just a wealthy few. About 90% of Swiss population is middle and upper middle class. Why? Because historically Switzerland had been created by the working middle class folk, who had won the power from the Medieval Lords.

We all know this prominent phrase – "a Government of the people, by the people and for the people". Let me rephrase it to outline the difference between Switzerland and Argentina. Switzerland has a Government of the middle class, by the middle class and for the middle class. The entire Swiss system and its mentality are based upon the benefits for an average folk. That's why the wealth distribution there is more even then in many other Countries of the world. And that's why Switzerland has been so stable and prosperous for so long.

On the other hand, Argentina has a Government of the rich, by the rich and for the rich. That's why 90% of all National wealth there is controlled by 5% of the wealthiest individuals and the rest of the population lives in poverty and misery. Such huge disparity between the haves and have-nots does not offer any economical and political stability and doomed to a bankruptcy.

The key point I am illustrating here is this – every Economic policy based upon catering to the wealthy elite is a dead end policy! To the contrary, creating a strong middle class and eliminating poverty Nationwide is the one and only way to economic stability and prosperity. Poverty is the main reason of all our problems here on Earth, including wars, violence, organized crime, terrorism, epidemics, bankruptcies and so on.

Now then, why is "catering to the rich" is bad for any Economy, and "catering to the poor" is good? Here is the answer:

We all know that 2/3 of our Economy depends on consumer spending. In plain English it means that we need to sell millions of new cars, new houses and other new goods in order to boost our Economy. If the rich get multi-million dollar tax cuts, will they buy new cars and new houses? Fat chance, they already have it all. What do they usually do with the extra money? First, they do mergers and takeovers. Then they do the "downsizing" by cutting jobs, or moving jobs to Mexico or to Asia, thus creating severe unemployment at home. The end result is a deep recession. That's why the Republican policy "rich get richer and poor get poorer" is a dangerous slippery slope. Besides, the wealthy don't need any frivolous tax breaks, for they already live better then any average folk could even dream of. Even if you double their taxes they will still live much better then any ordinary American.

On the other hand, creating a new middle class is the only way to revive our sagging Economy. Right now we, the wealthiest Nation on Earth, have more then forty million Americans, who are living at or below poverty line. That's where our future buyers of millions of new cars and new houses are. The poor Americans would love to buy new things, if they had the money. If we put more money in their pockets, our sales will grow, creating more demand, which will lead to a new jobs creation. When more people are employed, their buying power expands the consumer spending. The end result is a robust and prosperous Economy. The secret to a good Economy is a STRONG MIDDLE CLASS"! Switzerland is the best proof of this universal rule of Economy.

Here is the favorite question nowadays: "Are you for or against the Tax Cut?"

And here is the right answer: "I am all for the tax breaks and other benefits for the poor. Yet, I am totally against irresponsible tax cuts for the well-to-do, because it is bad for our Economy".

Republican "catering to the rich" is the main reason for our bad Economy. Each time the Republicans are in power, we get into a deep recession. The Republicans don't like to admit that. They point their accusing fingers at the Democrats, saying that the Democrats are raising taxes and spending money, while conveniently "forgetting" that it was "read my lips – no more taxes" G. Bush Sr. who had raised the taxes to cover up for the money squandered by the Republicans by giving huge tax loopholes to the CEOs, CFOs and such and by the S&L scandalous schemes.

Sadly, since President Clinton's departure the Democrats seem to have lost their voice and leadership, being afraid to criticize the Republican Administration. And the Republicans are taking advantage of such silence. They are pointing their crooked finger at President Clinton, calling recent recession "Clinton's recession".

Someone has to stand up and set the record straight - this is not "Clinton's recession". This is yet another REPUBLICAN RECESSION. The real reason for the economic collapse of the year 2000 was the IMMINENT DEPARTURE of President Clinton. The Wall Street got used to President Clinton's prudent fiscal policies and the fact that his departure was going to leave our Economy in the hands of two economically incompetent leaders, like G. W. Bush, or Al Gore had sent Wall Street into a tailspin.

Since day one President G.W. Bush had nothing to offer to our Economy. His lavish tax breaks for the rich had scared the daylights out of the Wall Street. And now the Republicans, who had caused the recession, are calling their own mismanagement "Clinton's recession".

Aside from the lip service coming out of the Republican Administration and self-serving exploits of our National tragedy, the White House has nothing to boast about. The words are cheap. It's the deeds and the results that count. Let's see, what has been accomplished so far? The leaders of Al-Qaeda and Taliban are not captured still, our Economy is sliding down and the Wall Street is in ruins. The Palestinian crisis is at its lowest point and the rest of the world hates us. Even our European Allies cannot stop anti-American demonstrations in their Countries. How low can we get?

Frankly, I would like to see President Clinton back in the White House. If we remember all his achievements in the world affairs, such as unseating dictators of Haiti, Cuban refugee crisis resolution, peace in Bosnia and Kosovo, North and South Korean Summit, Kyoto Agreement, etc, plus his brilliant management of our Economy; (and if we forget the vicious Republican smut campaign against him which cost our taxpayers a fortune), then we can see, that Bill Clinton's Presidential record of Economic expansion and the Wall Street record levels are unsurpassed throughout the entire History of our Country. The Democrats have a right to be proud of all the good things achieved by the Clinton Administration.

By the way, personally I don't think that the Republicans were elected for peeping into other peoples' bedrooms. We've got tabloids for that. I believe that all the politicians are elected to work for the good of our Country, not to waste their working hours and our taxpayer's money on sex scandals and other cheap thrills.

Also, I strongly believe that the "two terms" limitation for being a President is absolutely senseless and utterly harmful for our Country. If a President delivers a great leadership and superb economical achievements – he or she should work for our Country for as long as the American people are willing to vote for them. The silly argument that a President may turn into a dictator by staying in the White House longer then two terms doesn't have any merit at all. Do you remember F.D.R.? Was he a dictator? In our Country a dictator cannot grab the power, because we do have National Elections. I hope the Democrats will repeal that idiotic term limitation rule.

I guarantee to you, that if Bill Clinton had been our President now, we would have had four more years of prosperity, perhaps, a peace in the Middle East and much better relations with the rest of the world. I also guarantee to you that if Bill Clinton were eligible to run for the Presidency right now, he would have won a landslide victory.

Another way for the Democrats to win the Presidential Elections of 2004 by a landslide is to invite Bill Clinton to be a Vice-Presidential candidate.

Finally, I'd like to make my August of 2002 prediction for the year 2003. For as long as this Administration is in power there will be no upturn in our Economy. We will have the second dip recession turning into a depression in the year 2004. The DOW will slide below $6,000 and the NASDAQ will fall under $1,000. And G.W. Bush will raise our taxes, while leaving the tax breaks for the wealthy untouched, just as his father did. An only factor that could turn my prediction around is if the Democrats would win large majority seats in both Houses, if they would repeal the tax cuts for the wealthy and if they would reintroduce Bill Clinton's fiscal policies.

So, wake up and grow up, America! This is the time to stop voting your party allegiance and start voting your pocketbook, before the Republicans take you and your Country to a bankruptcy, Argentina way.

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