Taxing issues

If Romney ever gets in the White House, Grover Norquist’s dream of shrinking government down so he can drown it in a bath tub, will come true. A majority of Republicans have pledged their loyalty and devotion to an individual who holds the purse strings to their campaigns, in exchange for no new taxes on the obscenely wealthy.

Eric Alterman writes in the Nation magazine, “Romney’s tax proposals would mean those making $3 million annually will save $250,000” and Republicans call for “raising taxes on 20 million American families by eliminating the tax credits for the middle class, according to Seth Hanlon the director of fiscal reform at the Center for American Progress.”

So when Romney pledges not to raise taxes on anyone, he’s correct he won’t in theory “raise” taxes; he’ll just eliminate the credits that’ll help the poor and the middle class, essentially raising taxes for ordinary citizens.

Another misleading tax issue is the estate tax; initially enacted to prevent dynasties from forming with vast wealth accumulating in the hands of one family over decades. The US is supposed to be an equal society, the current frenzy over the “death tax” is propaganda peddled by the “money power” of mega conglomerates.

Alterman continues, “slashing taxes on the super wealthy means $9 trillion in lost revenue over the coming decade according to the Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center.” Which when translated means that a Romney-Ryan win would slash all government spending except defense. Candidate Romney pledges to increase defense spending to $2 trillion over the coming decade. We’ll have no government spending on social programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and all of those funds and our taxes will go instead to wars.

Quoting Alterman’s article Grover Norquist said “We just need a president who can sign legislation that the Republican House and Senate pass. We don’t need someone to think. We need someone with enough digits on one hand to hold a pen.”

Ayn Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged is coming to life, only the rich can save us… with austerity cuts. Yeah, right. Goodbye cruel world!