Regardless of what Bush recommends economically, it always includes a tax cut. He seems to think that a tax cut will cure everything. But all a tax cut does is increase the deficit. In an environment where our country is expected to have huge deficits for at least the next 10 to 15 years, he comes up with a new way to cut taxes. Who benefits? Primarily the rich.
The rich are doing so well in our society, they do not need any help from the government. The rich have plenty of ownerships. They do not need government help so they could own more. They have myriad ways to take advantage of all the tax cuts. So much so, that many of them pay zero taxes.
The poor need help. As a "compassionate" conservative, Bush should know that. Unfortunataely, the poor are not liable for much taxes. What will they do with a tax cut? How can they be "owners"?
- How can the workers striking against Vons, Ralphs and Albertsons be owners?
- How can the employees of a manufacturing plant that has disappeared from the U.S. and reappeared in China be owners?
- How can people who cannot afford health insurance be owners?
- How can a father or a mother who earns the minimum wage be an owner?
As Kuttner says:
"If we want an 'ownership society' based heavily on increased individual savings, let us start with decent incomes for workers so that ordinary people can afford to save."
Exactly. Help the poor, not the rich.
What Bush will be suggesting is nothing but laissez faire in new clothing. All the poor will get is sole "ownership" of their problems. They will be alone. No one will be there to help them.
Direct help is what poor people need. We need to expand the earned income tax credit. We need to raise the minmum wage. We need to modify tax law so it would not be advantageous for a corporation to shut its plant in U.S. and open one overseas.
Instead of the phony "ownership" Bush will be suggesting, he should look for ways to allow poor people to own their own lives. Up to fairly recently, society kept a social contract with its citizens: You get a full-time productive job and you will earn enough money to support your family. This contract is in tatters. Unions were destroyed. (I must say that Bush did his part here by not allowing union activity in the new Department of Homeland Security.) While workers were becoming penniless, Republicans have gifted the rich with ever increasing tax cuts, and made it convenient for companies to reduce wages (Greenspan calls it reducing inflation).
Bush's aproach to this problem is the approach of an extreme competitor. According to him, you as an individual, own your problems. It is up to you to solve them. Don't tell me you are poor. Don't tell me you are sick. Don't complain you can't find a job. It's your problem, solve it. The rest of us are rich because we attacked our problems and now we are successes. Attack your problems and you can be a success too.
Where is the "compassion"? There is none. Extreme competitors like Bush do not know what "compassion" means. They talk about "ownership."
Another word they do not understand is "community." People are not alone. They belong to communities. And it is up to government to support, not merely individuals, but the idea of "community."
People with "compassion" who support "community" are of a more cooperative nature and they tend to be Democrats.
Watch out for competitors bearing a gift called "ownership."
