[THREAD] Observations from an important article by @NatCounterPunch’s Jim Kavanagh. counterpunch.org/2018/09/21/tax…
If taxes pay for federal programs, then the super-wealthy are naturally the benefactors of EVERYTHING, and rest of us peons are the lowly beneficiaries of their (begrudging) generosity.
But federal taxes don’t pay for anything.
But federal taxes don’t pay for anything.
The pay-for game, built upon the foundation of "the people fund the government" (when the truth is that it’s the other way around) is not a debate or a discussion. It is an infinite length diversion and delaying tactic, to guarantee we never get the big programs we need.
It’s not that unlike voting for the lesser of two evils: “Sure, the Democrat is not great, but we HAVE TO STOP THE REPUBLICAN. We’ll talk about your progressive litmus/purity test, but you have to wait until *after* the election."
Wait until...it no longer matters.
Wait until...it no longer matters.
But even if we do get big programs such as Medicare for All, the effort to dilute or kill it will begin the SECOND it’s passed. Why? Because almost all bills that benefit the people are polluted by economically nonsensical pay-fors.
Both major M4A bills specify exactly what kinds of taxes will "pay for" these programs...even though federal taxes don’t pay for anything. Here’s HR-676’s pay-fors:
It guarantees that the MILLIONS who are disgusted by or truly terrified of "raised taxes" will stand against it. They will fight non-stop to prevent its passage, and if it does pass, to dilute and kill it.
Bernie’s Senate version of Medicare for All, on the other hand, is funded by a TRUST FUND, which means it will gradually be whittled away to nothing, just like the trust fund FDR put into Social Security. counterpunch.org/2013/11/12/how…
In other words, these pay-fors are poison pills on otherwise perfect bills. The oligarchs’ insurance policy, as it were. The bills give hope & something to fight for & the pay-fors guarantee they will be nothing like they should be if they pass. It further postpones revolution.
(Is it any wonder that no military or tax-cut-for-the-rich bills ever specify pay-fors? From the article. [The link in the screenshot goes to govtrack.us/congress/bills…]) 
From the article: "If you fight about “how are you going to pay for it,” you’re fighting on their ground, and you’ll never win..." Unfortunately, @KyleKulinski (and MANY other prominent progressive figures) do not understand this.
We MUST stop playing the pay-for game. Playing it only caters to a public that the article calls "zombified by Thatcherite neoliberalism." We need to shake and wake these people up to the reality of how the economy actually functions, not cater to their misunderstandings.
The truth about how our economy actually functions makes things SO MUCH EASIER.
#LearnMMT
A few more random observations from the article:
#LearnMMT
A few more random observations from the article:
From the article (link is to nytimes.com/roomfordebate/…). What we think is reality is lie upon lie upon lie.
Neoliberalism 101: If our economy is "operated regressively, as it is in our society, [it] exacerbates hoarding, financial speculation, and inequality." In other words, we fight over (triage) the limited resources we are given, and the limited money that we have.
But government (& their mega-door employers) has way more than enough with which to provide for the people. They MANUFACTURE OUR SUFFERING & most of the people honestly believe this austerity to be a necessary evil. "Too much spending" is not the problem.
Finally, entitlements. We are ENTITLED to Social Security and healthcare and education and a decent job because we are HUMAN – not because we paid into (“earned”) them for our whole lives. (Those who DIDN’T pay into these programs are just as entitled.) <end thread>
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