A Sad Devotion To A Failed Religion

March 22nd, 2011

The near fundamentalist conservative mantra that "pro growth tax cuts always create jobs" is no longer merely dubious or cynical or even statistically wrong. It is either delusional or it is willfully evil. Last week, Scott Keyes of Think Progress interviewed Newt Gingrich regarding his beliefs regarding revenue, corporate tax loopholes and growth. Newt's responses are nothing less than stunning. It's one thing that Newt declares continued allegiance to this particular falsehood:

"GINGRICH: I just want to say this because it’s an important difference in how we approach this. If we give you an incentive to do something right that creates more jobs, that is not a loophole. That’s an incentive. If you then intelligently follow that incentive and create more jobs, we should celebrate that as a good thing."

Fair enough. If, however, the policy in question not only fails to create jobs but actually corresponds to the worst job creation in American history, the appropriate response is not to argue a decade later that you need to do more of it. What's genuinely frightening and corporatist to a degree not heard since the early part of the last century (the second quote) is this:

"GINGRICH: First of all, if they make millions and millions in profit, they probably employ thousands and thousands of people and those thousands and thousands of people are contributing a lot to America."

Read that again. He declares that corporations need pay nothing. Because their workers pay taxes. Corporations shouldn't. I should. And you should. And that single mother working from week to week should. Again, this is either madness... or it is pure fucking evil.