Yep... stand-alone newsbite...
The Republican Party of Ronald Reagan was called to power
in 1980 to restore America’s prosperity and military might and halt her
stumbling retreat in the Cold War. He succeeded and was rewarded with a
49-state landslide in 1984.
Should Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan prevail, what would be
the “large and definite purpose” for which they and their party had been called
to power?
Answer: Put America’s fiscal house in order and restore
the prosperity the nation knew before the Great Recession.
Yet the only path consistent with party principle to
achieve this goal is by imposing real pain upon an electorate that is less
likely to reward Romney-Ryan with a 49-state landslide in 2016 than punish
their party with a massacre of Republicans in 2014.
(*NOD*)
THAT SAID... IT'S GOTTA BE DONE. THE RISK MUST BE TAKEN.
Recall: In 1982, before the Reagan tax cuts began their
healing work, Fed Chairman Paul Volcker’s deep-root-canal economics —
double-digit interest rates to scour inflation out of the economy — caused a
loss of 26 Republican House seats. In early 1983, Reagan was widely viewed as a
one-term president.
Should Romney and Ryan prevail in November, they would
face a situation as dire as was Reagan’s — with fewer policy options.
(*NOD*)
Consider the 20% income tax cuts Romney proposes. With
present tax rates generating revenue only 15% to 16% of gross domestic product,
a cut that size would explode a deficit that is already in excess of $1
trillion for the fourth straight year.
NOT NECESSARILY. NOT IF SPENDING CUTS ARE INSTITUTED.
(BUT, YEAH, PAT... I "GET" YOUR BASIC POINT.)
Moreover, the principal beneficiaries of those tax cuts
would be Americans in the 35% bracket, who would see their top rate fall to 28%.
Someone earning $10 million a year in salary income could get a tax cut of
around $700,000 — a nice piece of change.
(*SIGH*)
AGAIN, THOUGH... NOT NECESSARILY. WE NEED TO REFORM THE
TAX CODE. CUT OUT THE LOOPHOLES. ARE ROMNEY-RYAN CAPABLE OF - OR EVEN WILLING
TO TRY - INSTITUTING SUCH CHANGES?
Romney suggests he will pay for tax cuts by cutting
deductions. But the three largest deductions for most taxpayers are mortgage
interest, state and local taxes, and charitable contributions. And if the GOP
is reluctant even to discuss these cuts today, is it likely to enact them?
I HEAR YA, PAT... BUT WHAT'S THE ALTERNATIVE?
The Romney-Ryan supply-side tax cuts had better produce a
boom, and fast, because, given the makeup of the media, they will be portrayed
as a plutocrats’ raid on the U.S. Treasury.
IF ROMNEY-RYAN ARE ELECTED THERE'LL BE AN IMMEDIATE
STOCK MARKET BOOM. THAT WILL SET THE TONE.
Moreover, while tax cuts produce only ideological angst
on the Left, any major budget cuts must inevitably cause real pain.
ROMNEY-RYAN NEED TO BE HONEST WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!
IF NOT DURING THE CAMPAIGN... FROM DAY ONE OF THEIR ADMINISTRATION!
The largest domestic programs are Medicare and Social
Security. Pare back these middle-class entitlements, and a President Romney
will be at war with AARP, tens of millions of seniors and an army of baby
boomers now reaching retirement age at a rate of 10,000 a day.
NOT NECESSARILY! NOT IF HE AND RYAN USE THE BULLY
PULPIT TO PREACH TRUTH AND EDUCATE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!
If Romney is going to bring the budget even close to
balance, he has to end U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and stay out of
any new wars in Syria or Iran. But a policy of no war where no vital U.S. vital
interest is imperiled would be seen as a moral abdication by the democracy
crusaders and a betrayal by the neoconservatives.
FUCK 'EM! ROMNEY WILL JUST HAVE TO MAN UP AND FACE THEM
DOWN.
As for defense, Romney has taken that off the table and
would increase it to 4% of GDP.
HOPEFULLY THIS IS SIMPLY CAMPAIGN TALK... (*SIGH*)
What about education? The major items here are Head
Start, Bush II’s No Child Left Behind, Pell grants and student loans. Has any
president since Sputnik jolted America awake ever cut back on education?
WE MUST! ROMNEY AND RYAN MUST EXPLAIN THAT WHAT WE'VE
BEEN DOING HASN'T BEEN WORKING! WE'VE GOT TO GET THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OUT OF
THE EDUCATION BUSINESS! EDUCATION IS BEST LEFT TO THE STATE LEVEL OF
GOVERNMENT.
What about infrastructure? Since the Interstate Highway
Act of President Eisenhower, when has federal spending for highways, roads,
bridges, airports, ports and mass transit ever been cut?
AGAIN... GOTTA DO IT!
Among the major poverty programs are rent supplements,
food stamps, the Earned Income Tax Credit, welfare and Medicaid. Would a Romney
administration that is slashing tax rates for the top 20% dare to cut programs
that benefit the working poor?
HE HAS TO!
Only once in the lifetime of Americans now living did the
U.S. government slash spending.
Right after World War II, the feds’ share of the U.S.
economy was cut by two-thirds, and all those dollars put away in wartime
savings came flooding out to buy the homes, cars, TVs, freezers, and washers
and dryers suddenly available.
What would a Romney-Ryan administration do once in
office?
A guess: freeze federal spending rather than slash it.
(*SIGH*) I PRAY YOU'RE WRONG, PAT.
Retain the Bush tax cuts, and pass the new Romney rates.
(*SIGH*) I PRAY YOU'RE WRONG, PAT.
Take a chainsaw to regulations choking free enterprise.
Tighten eligibility for federal programs. Cut federal payrolls through
attrition.
LET'S HOPE SO!
And pray it all works, as it did for the Gipper not so
long ago.
(*NOD*)
But however it turns out... those 49-state landslides are
history.
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