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.

Why The GOP Filibustered The First Responders Bill

Dec 19th, 2010

The motivation for the GOP's filibuster of a bill to provide health benefits for American gheroes is more crass than you might believe. From the Hill:

"A vote to quash the filibuster failed by a vote of 57 to 42, three votes short of the necessary threshold. As a result, the proposal is unlikely to pass this year. The bill would provide funding for a health program to treat first responders, construction and cleanup workers and residents who inhaled toxic particles after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers. The $7.4 billion cost of the legislation over 10 years is paid for by a provision that would prevent foreign multinational corporations from using tax havens to avoid taxes on U.S. Income."

Got it? It is more important to the GOP to keep a loophole for corporations that make money off of American consumers but don't want to pay taxes on the profits.