Taxing my patience

States are bankrupt.  Communities are shutting off streetlights in an effort to save money.  Schoolchildren in Hawaii now attend school only four days a week.  Teachers are being laid off all over this country, as are policemen and firefighters.  But Republicans in Congress are opposed to passing a measure that would provide financial relief to cash-strapped states.  Roads are being UN-paved because states cannot afford to maintain them - our infrastructure is literally crumbling.  But the R's want to extend Bush's tax cuts, tax cuts that go primarily to the wealthy.  Tax cuts that will ADD to the deficit, the same deficit that the R's are yelling and screaming about lowering.  Because roads, teachers, bridges, the electrical grid, etc. - those are things we needn't spend money on.  What we really need to do is make sure that the already obscenely wealthy get to keep more of their money.  Money that they will NOT put back into the economy no matter the rhetoric coming from the right.  It has been proven over and over during the past 30 some years that supply side economics does not work.  The trickle down theory does not work.  Full stop.

Fareed Zakaria said it best in his recent Newsweek column (August 9, 2010 issue):
"The idea that the average American is overtaxed is a nice piece of populist pandering.  In fact, federal taxes as a percentage of the economy are at their lowest level since the presidency of Harry Truman... The simple fact is this: all the Bush tax cuts were unaffordable.  They were an irresponsible act of hubris enacted during an economic boom.  Conservatives thought they would force us to shrink the government.  But with Republicans controlling the White House and both houses of Congress, did reduced taxes cause reduced spending?  No, they led to ever-increasing borrowing and a ballooning deficit..."

Furthermore, he goes on to say:
"We have one of the smallest governments among all the rich countries in the world..."

And this from Paul Krugman's recent Op-Ed:
"We're told that we have no choice, that basic government functions - essential services that have provided for generations - are no longer affordable.  And it's true that state and local governments, hit hard by the recession, are cash-strapped.  But they wouldn't be quite as cash-strapped if their politicians were willing to consider at least some tax increases..."

Ah, but to advocate for "... at least some tax increases..." would require courage, something all of our politicians - even the best ones - seem to lack these days.