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Starve The Beast Worked, But It Defunded The Government
For the last 30 years the conservative, regressive wing of the Republican party has been dead set on creating an environment that obliterates the government. Of course their rhetoric is “it’s a spending problem”, that’s been their mantra for almost a generation. The debt and deficit was created by this foolish economic model called the Laffer curve. Essentially the Laffer curve tried to illustrate that when you lower taxes to a certain point , government revenue actually goes up. This is obviously a complete economic fallacy.
America is currently at the pinnacle of this regressive plan to eradicate the country of social programs. We just don’t have the revenue to continue with them, but it’s not a SPENDING problem, it’s a revenue problem.
Look at this chart put together by Talking Points Memo, it shows that from 2001-2011 domestic discretionary spending has remained FLAT at 369 billion dollars when adjusted for inflation and population growth. We aren’t spending anymore money on the programs, like women’s shelters education or other programs that regular Americans need. We just cut taxes to the point where we can no longer fund these programs.
In another tragic story reported by Forbes, Alto,Texas just eliminated every single police officer. “We had to do something drastic,” says Jerry Flowers, a city councilman in Alto, Texas. “The police department,“ Mr. Flowers goes on, ”being a non-money-making entity, was the easiest to get rid of while we catch our breath and build up some cash.”
In the meantime, for protection against ne’er-do-wells, petty thieves and outright criminals, citizens of Alto will have to rely on the Cherokee County sheriff’s office, headquartered 12 miles away.
“I’m going to try,” commented the county sheriff when notified, “but I can’t guarantee you there will always be an officer in the town.”
Until recently, drastic cutbacks like this were the province of down-and-out medium-sized cities like Camden, N.J. – where half the police force has been let go. Or Oakland, Calif. – where the cops no longer answer burglary calls.
This is the Republican America, where corporations, billionaires and millionaires get tax breaks and pay for loopholes and the rest of us, sit back and watch as the very foundation of our country is drastically changed or eliminated.
We are the wealthiest country on earth and in history, yet we are going to have streets not protected by police, we cut back on programs that help the poor and elderly all the while taxes continue to drop for the wealthy.
Starve the beast has had some unintended consequences it seems and the people who are going to suffer are the people who make America great, the American middle, and working class.
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22 Responses to Starve The Beast Worked, But It Defunded The Government
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Reynardine
Jul. 6th, 2011 at 7:19 pm
Oh, I think they foresaw itt all. Crushing “the little people” isn’t collateral damage, it’s the whole point. “Resistance is futile”, you know.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson
Jul. 6th, 2011 at 7:59 pm
At least if we actually got “assimilated” we would not be “little people” anymore.
boil
Jul. 6th, 2011 at 7:45 pm
we will be going back to the day when police were strictly to protect the rich. in the late 1800′s, police were for hire, like the pinkertons. we are quickly returning back to a caste system. sometimes i feel like i’m an untouchable, like in india…
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 6th, 2011 at 7:59 pm
Like the people down in the lower decks of the Titanic whop were locked in when the ship sunk
boil
Jul. 6th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
when you were poor and you traveled on a ship to ellis island, you were called ‘steerage’. you were considered the same as a trunk full of cloths….
Enjay in E MT
Jul. 6th, 2011 at 7:54 pm
This is an excellent example of the GOP mindset – “government should run as a profit making business” If it doesn’t make a return on investment (“being a non-money-making entity”) – it is parcelled out to private sector or shut down.
Public School buildings, Books/Materials, team sports, NCLB, Teacher wages, maintenance & repair, mainsteaming disabled students or less than average students …- unprofitable! Shut them down or privatize to a a charter school where one that can restrict the number of those disabled or less than average students and educate students for considerably less ‘tax’. dollars.
The AVERAGE cost for a prison inmate is about $45K per yr compared to the average cost for a public school student is around $8750 per yr.
teenspirit
Jul. 6th, 2011 at 11:57 pm
Your right about that. It seems like that is what they think and its true. To bad theres not enough creative democrats like you in power. They just seem to role over and play dead. The commercial they should be running is the wage disparity chart of the last forty years. I don’t know how simpler to make it for the sheeple to wake the hell up and demand answers. Its sucks.
keith
Jul. 7th, 2011 at 12:36 am
I really think the people are nearly awake from their slumber. The Democrats and the Republicans have played this country far long enough. The elected representatives of today are those who hold no deep character or morals. These pin striped commissioners roll the dice and guess who pays the price.
I believe many will be surprised during the awakening.
Cathy
Jul. 6th, 2011 at 8:11 pm
Why in the world don’t more people see what is going on? Do people have to be affected personally before it hits home? The GOP is destroying all that makes America great, and very few seem concerned. We need to make sure everyone is aware of these destructive policies and get them stopped. I am very worried about the society that my grandchildren will be part of if this madness continues. I, for one, would rather see them grow up in a compassionate country, than a rich one!
keith
Jul. 7th, 2011 at 12:18 am
I do believe many people actually understand what is going on but there tends to be an overwhelming proportion of our society who are now complacent in their ideals to ‘just leave well enough alone’.
Not many will stand with conviction for what may deem as morally correct while in actuality they themselves hold no true values at all. My greatest fear is that the line has been crossed to a point of no return.
It is not a ‘sky is falling’ scenario that I paint, or doomsday prophesy I proclaim, only a man recalling life as it was just a generation or two ago.
We live in a world now where we provide more guns than food. You fall out of line, you fall out of grace. Somebody really needs to turn the page.
I mean far way you see a beautiful blue ball spinning in space but when you look closer you reveal the human race.
keith
Jul. 7th, 2011 at 12:26 am
And yes, I tend to believe I hold conviction to what is true and being of the 60-70′s, when I now stand with a voice I feel as if I’m in the middle of Grand Central station on a soap box with my pants down to my ankles.
‘Who cares’ is the atrocity.
keith
Jul. 7th, 2011 at 12:28 am
We CAN stop them
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 6th, 2011 at 8:12 pm
Absolutly true Ray, you hit it right on. Since Reagan our tax income has been dropping except for a period under Clinton. Those charts show we are being had by the GOP and it has to stop. Why is this stuff never in the media?
Ray Medeiros
Jul. 6th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
They media is LAZY, not liberal. It is corporate, so they are NO different than Exxon or Wal Mart. Sure some have a slant left(MSNBC) but that is only for diversity and profit. They KNOW that there are those who can not stomach Fox, so they put an “antidote” on the air.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 6th, 2011 at 8:29 pm
Bob Woodward is making his grave site 5 times bigger just to roll around in. This is pathetic
debracaballero
Jul. 7th, 2011 at 1:15 pm
Why can’t we raise up a new media?
The Platzner Post
Jul. 6th, 2011 at 10:10 pm
Is this a USA, where majority of Americans want to live???
keith
Jul. 7th, 2011 at 2:12 am
“America is currently at the pinnacle of this regressive plan to eradicate this country of social programs. We just don’t have the revenue to continue them…”
Well i got my paycheck today and the 40 hrs. plus the 25 hrs. overtime gave me a big gross net but with the total deductions withheld I evidently provided quite a bit of revenue for something or someone.
What more will the working people do to support this defunct government? Is this going to be a standard of don’t ask, don’t complain?
Are we finally at the mercy of this government to merely comply or become eradicated as they so wish?
My grandfather and his fathers before him who toiled so hard for the meager pay they received with the firm belief in this American dream that it was all for not? And the generations of theirs who were intolerant not being sufficient and enjoying the prosperity at even those low standards to which a government gladly repaid with basic freedoms?
I’m sorry, but the sorriest day my grandfather ever had as a free man is the accepted definition of freedom for many by today’s standard. This government has a stranglehold on democracy and the freedom it should represent all the while the people are silenced.
This iron clad grip by those on the hill needs a few fingers cut off.
bee
Jul. 7th, 2011 at 5:41 am
Taxes are the membership fees of a just society……..
newmeximan
Jul. 7th, 2011 at 7:13 am
The conservatives have been whittling away at the consumer protections but in place after the last depression. It began in the 70′s with allowing North Dakota to offer credit across state lines. As credit became cheaper, more and more people stopped saving for consumer goods they wanted, and became slaves to interest rates. An item purchased on credit is discarded and replaced before being paid for.
At the same time, conservatives allowed corporations to wiggle out of their promises and contacts to provide a pension after a term of service to the corporation. The 401K was invented, and created a new career path – money manager. Of course, the manager is paid whether the corporate portion of the fund makes or loses money. Not satisfied with the churning and service fees that kept a retirement fund equal or less than the employee contributed – they ‘modernized’ the commodities futures market so that the margin account required less money, created new financial ‘vehicles’, and kept the new derivatives out of the eyes of regulators.
Conservatives have brought back bucket shops, and they are completely legal. Why go to a casino, when you can place a bet with your broker?
Take heart, America. The top 2% will have to spend all of their money on private security when we can no longer fund local police departments. In France, the same ‘type’ of people where dragged into the streets by their hair. And they had private security who decided to change their loyalty from money to honor. Hopefully, the GOP will be punished in 2012 for protecting the tax rates for the wealthiest, while they cut spending for the services the dwindling middle class actually pay for.
debracaballero
Jul. 7th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
You know what… I hate conspiracy theories…..but i’ve watched the repubs for the last decade dismantle our economy bit by bit and I know something very sinister is up. There is no doubt about it! A silent evil revolution is occurring in our country and most of its citizens seem unaware of its existence. This civil war is brilliant in design, I have to hand it to the neocons, they have some real evil geniuses within their ranks. Wage a war against your enemy in such a quiet sneaky way he has no idea that he is even at war. And to top it off make your enemy help you win this war by supporting it. Absolutely brilliant! Its very simple, starve the masses and bring them to their knees with seemingly no way out….then bring out the master plan, which by then will be sounding good. Nationwide super toll highways owned by foreign countries, inter-amero currency etc. but no
real drastic change to “our” country can occur without the complete dismantling of it. Our enemy knows this hence its frantic plan to bring us to our knees. Conspiracy theory? The proof is in the pudding.
Patrick
Jul. 7th, 2011 at 5:49 pm
Federal revenue shifts from one year to the next are driven in large part by the business cycle – which of late has been driven primarily by the credit cycle.
One can remove the effect of these short-term shifts by comparing decades, looking at the average annual federal revenue. Of course over that long a period, one needs to adjust for inflation and population growth.
Average annual federal revenue, adjusted for inflation and population growth, was higher from 2001-2010 than for 1991-2000, higher for 1991-2000 than for 1981-1990, higher for 1981-1990 than for 1971-1980.
= The beast didn’t starve – he got up and went back to the buffet table for seconds.
Essential government functions are being crowded out – but not by “revenue shortfalls” – revenue growth has outpaced the combined rate of inflation and population growth. Essential government functions are being crowded out by waste. Military bases in Germany. Wars in the Middle East being continued after we killed the guys we were there to kill. Bailouts. Stimulus. We spend $500BN more per year than we spent in 2007! Only about $100BN of that is on increased social security and medicare – the rest is pure unadulterated nonsense.