The upcoming election is the most important election in decades. If Mitt Romney is elected and the Republicans take control of the Senate and retain the majority in the House, they will finally be in place to implement their master plan of "Starve the Beast".
"Starve the Beast" meant selling the idea of trickle-down
economics to the public and cutting taxes so low that the government would
be starved for tax revenues, thereby forcing cuts in government spending.
Most of the tax cuts have been be realized by the very wealthy (as will more tax
cuts), and most of the spending cuts would be realized by the middle-class and
poor.
The corporate defense contractors in the military industrial complex would be
spared, while Social Security and Medicare would go to the chopping block. The
top 1% doesn't NEED Social Security and Medicare.
Corporations outsourced the better paying jobs (mostly union jobs) overseas for
cheap labor. Employers don't have to contribute to Social Security and Medicare
for these foreign workers, nor offer them safe working conditions, healthcare or
pension plans - nor abide with any environmental regulations. Have you seen the
air in China lately?
Corporations also lobbied Congress for many tax loopholes, rendering the
"statutory" corporate tax rate of 35% to an average
"effective" tax rate of 18%.
The CEOs of these corporations earn the bulk of their wages through stocks and
stock-options, meaning they pay NO Social Security or Medicare taxes at all on
their realized "capital gains" (like Mitt Romney does with his
"carried interest"). They pay a lower tax rate on federal income taxes
than the workers they laid off once did. People earning a middle-class wage of
$50,000 a year pay 25%, and capital gains are taxed at 15%.
When the GOP talks about government debt and spending, the debt is accrued by
low taxes on the wealthy and spending on the poor and middle-class.
50% of all Americans now earn less than $26,500 a year (source). The federal poverty line is $23,050 for a family of four. The Republicans claim these people don't pay taxes and "should put more skin in the game."
See my post: Most Unemployed were once Middle-Class
But corporations, with many tax loopholes, by shutting down labor unions, outsourcing jobs, and driving down worker's wages, have also saved a fortune in Social Security and Medicare taxes.
We are "beasts" that the Republicans want to starve. When the GOP calls for "smaller government", they mean much less for the poor and middle-class and much more for the top 1%.
The top 1% already earns $1 trillion a year and pays no Social Security or Medicare taxes whatsoever. Now they want to completely eliminate these government programs for those same people they profited from for the past 30 years.
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