Friday, December 03, 2010


The meme practiced and honed to a fine pitch coming from all Republicans everywhere, loudest from those in Congress, is tax cuts for the wealthy means more jobs for everyone else.

Wait a cotton pickin' minute here. Who says this is true? Other than John Orange Man Boehner and his pack of merry prankster Republican sycophants. Let's take a look at the whole story. Rich person Warren Buffet has this to say in an interview with ABC News' Christiane Amanpour: "But that [trickle down economic theory - or give it all to the rich and some will dribble back down onto the poor] has not worked the last 10 years, and I hope the American public is catching on." A 2006 report by United for a Fair Economy found that: "The president's tax-cutting policy is a failure in regard to job creation, and we need to recognize it as such...While there is no evidence that massive tax cuts create jobs, there is considerable evidence that they contribute to economy-choking deficits."

And top economist Alan Blinder said in the Wall Street Journal in July: "We could get some substantial job creation by simply reprogramming the $75 billion that would be saved over the next two years by not extending the upper-bracket Bush tax cuts and spending it instead on unemployment benefits, food stamps, and the like."

Don't Republicans read the reports? Don't they read the Wall Street Journal? Don't they listen to anything but the buzz and buzzwords echoing in their own fevered brains?

Job creation comes about by creating the jobs. Not giving the money away to those who least need it; those who will not use it to create jobs, but stick in an offshore account somewhere. Or if they do create jobs, they are jobs in some other country, some poor island colony of the corporations, where peasants slave away in dismal conditions for pennies a day.

Here's an imaginary conversation between a rich, but well intentioned, CEO and his money manager:

CEO: "I'm taking my tax cut and creating more jobs with it, Bill."

MM:" Sir, you can't do that. That would result in no net benefit to you or the stock holders."

CEO: "But, Bill, I'm sitting on a piles of cash, and think of those poor Americans out of work. We must do something."

MM: "But sir, if you create jobs here in the United States, those people will expect to be paid real American dollars. Your dollars sir. The dollars that the hard working Republican Congress has fought for. It would be a betrayal of that trust."

CEO: "But I thought they wanted me to create jobs. Isn't that what they are always saying? Tax cuts for the wealthy equals jobs."

MM: "Well, sir, there is a way."

CEO: Tell me!"

MM: "Your company doesn't really make anything, just shuffles the money around, so jobs here in the U.S. wouldn't be of mch use anyway."

CEO: "But we could make things. Didn't my great great granddaddy used to make things? Steam pipes or something?"

MM: "Pipefittings for gadgets to bring the outdoor plumbing in the house. Very profitable in 1910."

CEO: "Well?"

MM: "Sir, those are all made in China now. The company is long gone, but the money lives on. That's the beauty of money, it multiplies like bunnies. Only you have to manage it wisely."

CEO: "Hmmm. Do I want to make pipe thingies in China?"

MM: "No need, Sir. All taken care of. But if you are interested in creating jobs, you may need a money counter and a vault overseer for your offshore accounts."

CEO: "Yes, yes, let's put an ad in the New York Times right now."

MM: "No, sir, you don't have to do that. We can get those people right off the streets in that little island, where the money lives."

CEO: Oh, I see. I will be creating jobs where the money is, not here in the U.S."

MM: "That's right. Now you get it."

CEO: "Good plan, Bill. You are a smart man. How much do I pay you?"

MM: "Well sir, I do receive a nice stipend from the profits on those accounts..."

CEO: "Bill, I hate to do this to you; you've been a loyal employee, but I see I can save money if I hire my money manager right there on the island. Thanks for the great advice. And pick up your severance pay on the way out. Wait, you'll have to get it from the offshore account. And Bill, I'm sorry, but it's going to have to be in local currency."