First diary and only my second time even writing here. I mostly just read and discuss some of these issues amongst friends, colleagues and family. Today, before being properly caffeined, I was listening to NPR discussing both the Republican and Democrat position on taxes with some guests.
Now, it's been pretty well documented amongst just about everyone that the Democratic Left is simply terrible at delivering a comprehensible message to people through the media. I heard this morning, and I am paraphrasing- pardon- that, "Democrats are for a progressive tax system and Republicans are for a Pro-Growth tax system". This simply floored me.
I'm trying to understand why and how the Democratic Left continues to lose the battle of public perception and there it is tossed off by an NPR commentator in passing. The Republicans are Pro-Growth!!! By implication, because of our inherent dualistic brain, the Democrats are therefore antigrowth!
This has been so well documented in a variety of contexts, "Pro-Life" Republicans, therefore... Baby Killing Democrats!!!
The Democratic Left is well armed with plenty of facts to support it's position that higher taxes on the wealthiest actually produces more jobs than the Republican position. From the 1940's up through the present, the times of lowest unemployment have been synchronistic with high taxes on the wealthy. The 00's have been an abysmal decade for job growth, which correlates with historically low taxes on the wealthiest, while the Clinton era 90's had higher taxation for the wealthiest and it had a historically high employment!
Tax cuts for the Middle and Working Class is what creates jobs, due to American need to be upwardly mobile. To quote the Boss, "Poor man wants to be rich, rich man wants to be king and a king ain't satisfied till he rules everything!" (and one thing that a smart king will know is that there are plenty of other people who want to be king, so one way to keep them down is to have a high tax burden on those classes lower, and as king, one would obviously have a lot more power to make that want a reality).
Americans want to look like they have more. I bought a ramshackle house and I've been working my arse off trying to make it look like the best house in the neighborhood. Other people in my neighborhood are seeing me working on my place and they start to work on their place... it's essentially Keeping Up With The Jones as an economic Trickle Up Theory...
So what I propose is for the Democratic Left to start referring to our position on taxation in Pro-Growth language. We are not just for a "Progressive" tax system, we are for a "Smart Growth" tax system. By a "Smart Growth" tax system we are for a Middle Class tax break that will empower the Working Class to move upwards, for the Middle Class to aspire to move upwards... and that is accomplished by buying the goods and products that the Wealthiest control. By helping to create a high demand from the Middle and Working Class, the wealth will trickle upwards in a way that is sustainable.