Tea Party Cult Belief #1. "The wealthy are 'job creators.'"
They used to call it "trickle down economics." It's the theory that wealth flows from the top to the bottom, and the wealthier the rich become, the more prosperity they will spread around to the rest of us.
The most obvious theoretical attack on this belief is in the very mechanics of wealth creation. Capital does not create labor, labor creates capital. When a small elite has accumulated the lion's share of wealth, demand dries up, and the economy grinds to a halt. It happened in 1929, and again in 2008.
But you don't really need a theoretical explanation. Just look at this chart showing income gains since 1979.
(Chart Source: Center On Budget And Policy Priorities Using CBO Data.)
Now ask yourself a question. Where are the jobs?
More charts and data, and even some video, after the jump.
Tea Party Cult Belief #2. "Lower Taxes For The Wealthy Will Spur Investment And Create Jobs."
This is an application of "trickle down economics." Simple historical facts are all you need to refute this claim. Bill Clinton signed "the largest tax increase in history" according to tea party cult propaganda. The result was the strongest economy in a generation. George W. Bush lowered taxes, squandering the surpluses created in the Clinton Administration. The result was one of the weakest economies since the Great Depression.
Average GDP Growth by administration since 1948.
(Source: US Department of Commerce, Bureau Of Economic Analysis.
As far as lower tax revenues are concerned, those revenues are the lowest they've been since 1950. Once again, where are the jobs?
Source: Office Of Management And Budget
Tea Party Cult Belief #3: "The government keeps getting bigger, strangling the private sector."
I used to cite "Guatemala," but someone used "Somalia" as their example of a "less government paradise." I like it. If that example seems a little extreme to you, I challenge any tea party cultist to show me one "less government paradise" ... anywhere.
They can't. Go to the CIA Factbook and look at the 20 richest nations on earth. Everyone of them has a social democratic mixed economy ... including the United States.
As for the claim heard constantly that "government keeps getting bigger," take a look at this chart.
Spending is the same as it was in 1953.
Source: Office Of Management And Budget
As you can see from the chart, government spending was 24% of GDP in 2010, 23% in 1982 when conservative Ronald Reagan was in the White House, and 21% way back in 1953, the first year Eisenhower was President.
In fact, governnment hasn't grown in Rush Limbaugh's lifetime.
Tea Party Cult Belief #4. "Reagan's Supply Side Economics Produced the Strongest Economy Ever."
First of all, take a look at this chart again.
Average GDP Growth by administration since 1948.
(Source: US Department of Commerce, Bureau Of Economic Analysis.
It shows Reagan's economy as fourth best ... behind Democrats Johnson, Truman, and Bill Clinton. Some might say that Reagan had such a mess to clean up. So did Bill Clinton and John F. Kennedy who inherited recessions. Truman was in the White House at the end of 20 years of Democratic control.
But wait, there is an even better chart. This chart shows what I call "Boom Quarters" for the 28 years before and after Ronald Reagan's inauguration in 1981. A "boom quarter" is a quarter where annualized GDP growth excedes 6%.
There were 34 of them before Reagan took office, 14 after.
Boom Quarters Before and After Reagan.
(Source: US Department of Commerce, Bureau Of Economic Analysis.)
Now compare this chart to the earlier chart on income growth. Since the so-called Reagan Revolution, the richest Americans are the only group to see increases in income. There can be only one conclusion: The Reagan Revolution was a failure.
Which brings me around to ...
Tea Party Cult Belief #5 "New Deal Liberalism Is A Failure."
Starting with the New Deal itself, they say FDR's policies "prolonged the Great Depression." If you wonder about that, take a look at this chart.
Source: The chart comes form "housingbubblebust.com. The data comes from our familiar friends at the US Department of Commerce, Bureau Of Economic Accounts.
But wait, go back and look at the chart showing GDP growth since World War II. The strongest performance was during the Kennedy/Johnson years, when average GDP growth was 4.8% per year.
In the first two terms of the Roosevelt administration, average GDP growth was 6.25%, including the year 1936, when it was 13%. Ask a tea party cultist, "how much was the economy supposed to grow in the 1930's". Don't worry, they won't have an answer.
Next show them them the chart (above) showing which administrations boast the strongest GDP growth. It ain't the Republicans. The strongest post war economies were Kennedy/Johnson, Truman, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and ... wait for it ... Jimmy Carter. Not only was Carter not the worst, he wasn't even close. The basement is occupied by the first Bush, closely followed by the second.
But wait, there is one more chart.
January Unemployment Since 1948 Color By President's Party
(Source: Bureau Of Labor Statistics)
Above is a simple chart showing a simple measure of unemployment over the course of each President's tenure. What did he inherit in January when was sworn in? What did unemployment do year by year during his tenure? Finally, what did he leave his successor?
The results are stark. No Democrat ever left office with higher unemployment than he inherited ... including Jimmy Carter, whose closing unemployment number was unchaged.
No Republican left office with lower unemployment, except for Ronald Reagan. His immediate successor, George H.W. Bush, took it right back to 7.2%.
Finally, no Republican President left office with unemployment under 5 %. Three Democrats have, Truman, Johnson, and Bill Clinton.
Looking at the numbers I cite here ... and many more besides, the verdict is clear. New Deal liberal economics outperforms Ronald Reagan supply side economics, also known as "gilded age sweat shop economics." Which brings me around to the last bit of fun you can have with these numbers.
Confront the tea partiers with this data. That's one of the things I do in my film MEGADITTOES!!! -- The Tea Party Cult, Here's part of a scene, where I confront them with the unemployment numbers. It is one of many where I confront them with data you see here ... and much more besides.
Enjoy.