In a recent column in the Daily Item, Ramesh Ponnuru wrote about Paul Ryan’s and his fellow right wing ideologue’s plans to reduce taxes. Whatever their final proposals, you can be sure that they will be designed to help rich individuals and powerful corporations at the expense of middle and working class Americans. One of the key proposals is a lowering of the top income tax rate. The right wing almost has a religious fetish about the top tax rate.
One result we can be sure of if top rates are lowered again is that more of the wealth of this country will flow into the pockets of those at the very top. A process put into high gear with President Regan and his “supply side” economics. The theory suggests that if we give more to the rich more crumbs will fall to those down the economic ladder. Well, the rich have gotten richer and those below have gotten even less. Lowering the top tax rate on the wealthy does not create more jobs.
Ideologues don’t let simple things like the facts get in the way of their beliefs. In the 1950’s, a time of great economic growth, top tax rates were above 90 %. Through the 1970’s they did not fall below 70%. President Reagan cut the top rate almost in half and the real income of those in the middle grew very slowly or not at all and the well-off started reaping more and more of the country’s wealth. President Clinton who is by no stretch a progressive, raised the top rate to the predictions of doom from the right. Funny thing is that a great period of economic growth followed.
Cutting income seems a strange way to cut the deficit. What the right really wants is increased deficits and debt so that they can rationalize their attack on programs that help those in our society who need help the most. They want to help their corporate sponsors increase profits while they remove the ability of government agencies to protect us from the abuses of the corporations. While they preach the dangers of big government, one of the greatest dangers we now face is the increasing control of our government by the big corporations. The corporation’s only concern is their bottom line and are not constrained by moral, ethical or patriotic concerns. Who will protect us from their abuses if the government is unable?
If you believe that more of the wealth of this country should go to those at the top, then I suppose you will vote for people like Tom Marino. If you want corporations to poison the air and the water he certainly is your man along with his “fellow travelers.” It is very easy to fall for the magic potion that the call for tax cuts presents, but too often the cost of those cuts is passed down the economic ladder from those who have the most to those who struggle to pay the bills. Jesus said about doing for the least among us, but the political right including the so-called Christian right believes in doing for those who have the most among us.