How the GOP stole America [View all]
SUN DEC 18, 2011 AT 06:00 AM PST
How the GOP stole America
byMark Sumner
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If you listen to the news, you might think went on a we spending spree. You might think we shoved fresh billions into social programs, or gave fat pay raises to government workers, or that there's been some huge expansion of the government bureaucracy. That's not quite what happened.
President Bush said Saturday that the most important number in the budget he sends to Congress next week is the $5.6 trillion surplus it projects over the next 10 years.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/02/24/national/main274334.shtml
That's not some alternate universe. It's not ancient history. That's the United States just a decade ago. So what happened? Well, we didn't hand out huge new benefits, or fix all our crumbling roads and bridges, or address the failing National Parks. Emptying the national pocketbook was a lot easier than that. We gave it away.
We gave away $1.5 trillion in income tax cuts, and here's the fun part. Over one trillion of that went to the top 5%. Less than 2% of Americans pocketed more than all the rest put together. Another bit of fun: the extensions that have already been made to the cuts will double the cost, with the payout being just as lopsided.
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It's easy to scream about a Balanced Budget Amendment, but a decade ago we had a balanced budget. Heck, we had a surplus, one that was produced by small but real increases in the top tax rate. It's not the Constitution that changed since then. Nobody slipped in an amendment that forced the government into the red. Given the opportunity, the Republicans did everything they could to make sure that the United States not only doesn't have a balanced budget, but can't attain one because the one tool that can make it all work is the one they will not allow. Again, not a secret. What part of "government is the problem" did you not understand?
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the rest:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/18/1046522/-How-the-GOP-stole-America?via=blog_1
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