Are you as sick and tired as I am of hearing the Teapublican line that America is “broke,” and that as a result, we have to slash non-defense discretionary spending (which, conveniently, is EXACTLY what they’ve wanted to do all along – “drown government in the bathtub” or whatever lovely phrase they’re using these days)? Well, as Michael Moore pointed out in this speech at the Wisconsin Capitol yesterday, that is a Big Lie. Here’s an excerpt of Moore’s speech; you can read it all here.
America is not broke.
Contrary to what those in power would like you to believe so that you’ll give up your pension, cut your wages, and settle for the life your great-grandparents had, America is not broke. Not by a long shot. The country is awash in wealth and cash. It’s just that it’s not in your hands. It has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich.
Today just 400 Americans have more wealth than half of all Americans combined.
Let me say that again. 400 obscenely rich people, most of whom benefited in some way from the multi-trillion dollar taxpayer “bailout” of 2008, now have more loot, stock and property than the assets of 155 million Americans combined. If you can’t bring yourself to call that a financial coup d’état, then you are simply not being honest about what you know in your heart to be true.
Exactly right. The fact is, no matter what the “Taxed Enough Already” crowd might tell you, right now federal taxes are at their lowest level, as a share of the nation’s economy, since 1950. That’s right, despite fighting two major wars and with an aging population and skyrocketing health care costs, the federal government’s taking in less money today than it did when the country was in the heyday of the post-WWII economic boom period. But remember, despite all our challenges, it wasn’t too long ago when this nation’s budget was not only balanced, but in surplus, under Democratic President Bill Clinton.
And who “broke” the budget? Well, gee, which party was in charge of this country in the years after Bill Clinton left office? Which party took us to war in Iraq, but not only didn’t pay for that war, it actually CUT taxes on the wealthier-than-ever wealthy (while failing to invest in our nation’s infrastructure, “human capital,” etc.)? Hint: it wasn’t the “blue team.” Anyway, next time the people who have done their utmost to “break” America tell you America is “broke,” tell them where to shove it. And tell them to stop talking trash about our great country, the United States of America.
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