The Hill Makes "Political Hack" Seem Appealing
Brent Budowsky of The Hill mesmerized us all this morning with his latest epic rambling. He wants Democrats to fight for the bottom 99 percent of income earners while sticking it to the top 1 percent. He wants to give bonus payments to military families and tax rebates to police officers and firefighters making them land in their mailboxes "before election day." This strategy is all because he cares about hard working Americans and getting our economy on track. Yeah right. It would "provide the maximum political benefit to Democrats," and to paraphrase, draw a line between greedy, evil Republicans who only care about the rich and the kind compassionate Democrats who really care about the American people. This is a candid admission that the game plan is not for a healthier more prosperous America, but a political ploy to mitigate the anticipated carnage Democrats expect to suffer in 2010. After admitting the blatant political purpose of the article Budowsky boorishly begins to prostitute the plight of middle class Americans, troops, firefighters, and policemen. Budowsky made Bush working 9/11 into every speech seem subtle, but the real travesty was the pedestrian argument.
In a nutshell, the top 1 percent of earners are bad, and Democrats should punish them. While there is some political capital to gain from perpetuating this myth, it is just bad economic policy. Jobs have been this administration's Achilles' heal since Obama promised unemployment wouldn't go over 8 percent. Top income earners are job creators. You don't kick start the economy by raising their taxes. It might make you feel better but it isn't putting anyone back to work. It might pay for another round of unemployment checks if Democrats choose to actually fund them, while making it less likely that person will find gainful employment in the near term.
Despite the fact that letting the tax cuts expire on the rich isn't going to magically fix the economy and bolster the middle class; Budowsky presses on lamenting, "For too long our heroic troops and their families have endured scandals of wounded troops, preventable deaths through lack of body armor and Humvees, Mafia-level interest rates on desperately needed payday loans, chronically shortchanged resources and , most recently, a Congress that put auto dealer campaign donors ahead of American heroes abused by consumer rip-offs." It is a bit disgusting considering this is his admitted strategy to "provide the maximum political benefit to Democrats," by playing American heart strings in exchange for votes. Sure, this is a compelling list of tragedies but it has little to nothing to do with tax cuts.
Budowsky doesn't stop at just being conniving. He actually goes on to conflate class warfare of sorts by preaching, "For too long, the wealthiest 1 percent of the nation has reaped gigantic tax cuts while the vast middle class suffers a declining standard of living and tens of millions of Americans endure a Grapes of Wrath-like battle to survive." I can only imagine him shouting this for an angry mob moments before storming the lobby at Goldman Sachs. I admit Budowsky could have a future in melodrama. First off, the Bush tax cuts went across the board and that is pretty tough in a country where nearly 50 percent of the population doesn't pay income tax. As for standard of living, the only accepted measure is Real GDP per capita. The numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics that run through 2008 show the last decline in Real GDP per capita occured in 2001 when Bush inherited a recession. It wouldn't surprise me at all to see the 2009 numbers show a decline as well but we are in a recession and everyone is feeling the pinch. Stirring up animosity and resentment might have a limited political benefit but it isn't putting anyone to work.
This is just a classic example of media punditry gone terribly wrong. The only saving grace is that Budowsky is upfront with everyone. He isn't about doing what is best for the American people. He is about doing what is best for the party. Never let a good crisis go to waste right? Hey Brent Budowsky, The London School of Economics called. They want their degree back.
Tyson Bam
July 27th, 2010
