Tax Cuts Don't Work

When George Bush took office, he ushered in some of the most beneficial tax cuts that the top 1% wealthy people in this country ever got.
He said that tax cuts for the wealthy would stimulate the economy, thus creating jobs and more wealth and thus all the increased money sloshing around the economy would trickle back to the government and continue to lower budget deficits which would in turn justify lower tax rates and allow for more tax cuts.
Now we have had seven years of Bush fiscal policy and the pundits, talking heads and economic experts are speaking about recession,
So... where does the Bush Fiscal Fantasy stand today?
The very rich took their new found money from the tax cuts and invested it in risky things. This in itself is OK because it was just like found money. It was extra. They invested in sub-prime mortgages, hedge funds, no bankruptcy for credit card debt and health care managed for profit, just to name a few things. They got richer.
Bush managed to work the national debt up to about $10,000,000,000,000. The future will prove that this was done on purpose to bankrupt social security and medicare, the last two great liberal thorns in the side of conservatism.
Bush/Cheney managed to drive the price of gas and oil up to at least $3.00 per gallon. This is important because of where the extra money is not going. It is not going to fund a quest for alternatives. No wind power incentives, no homeowner tax credits or subsidies, no trash to energy or other co-generation or hydro-electric or geo-thermal or solar or 100 MPG engines. It is also not going to build more refinery capacity. The money is being used to maintain the high price of energy so the government cannot impose a needed $1.00 per gallon energy independence tax without creating a consumer backlash. We are now paying that $1.00 per gallon and we are not really changing our habits. We gave the energy companies permission to raise the prices when we accepted their trial price hikes. They beat the government to the punch. Their thinking is that they are keeping energy prices too high to tax. And it's working.
All in all, the Bush Fiscal Fantasy is a Fiasco, for 99% of us.
This is what the 2009 United States Government needs to do:

• Institute a federal finance system that is fair across the board and easy to understand. You make money, you pay taxes. Sure the poor don't have as much to spend, but then they use more government services. Sure the rich don't use social services but they rely on the government to protect their wealth. So... if you or your money earns $50,000 or less per year you pay 10%. If you or your money earns $50,001 to $500,000, you pay 20%. And if you or your money earns $500,001 and up, you pay 30%. If you are a corporation and not a flesh and blood human and you wish to do business in this country, you pay a corporate tax on what ever income you receive from doing business in the United States. You pay at the same graduation as above.
• There must be a freeze and moratorium on all government spending. The first month in session, congress must re-evaluate and re-approve all government expenditures.
• All spending bills must be readable, understandable and funded. All spending bills must be presented orally.
  
• No congressperson may vote on legislation that will benefit any entity that has provided that congressperson with money or other value. The congressperson may introduce the bill, may debate the bill but must publicly, on the congressional record abstain from voting on that bill and must disclose the value that prohibits their vote.

Wow! Talk about Fantasy Land! Our government isn't just broke. It is corrupt. I started this blog as a form of therapy for myself. The reality of Washington DC is not something I can be proud of.

How about this - Congresspeople get pay for performance. Individually, if they don't go to work, no pay. Collectively, if they don't solve a problem, no pay. They don't do their jobs, no pay.

OK I feel better now