Yesterday, as i entered the ante room of the men's locker room at the Landry Center for my swim workout, i was confronted with the TV stating that news of the possible Republican tax reform had sent the stockmarket to new highs. The station is usually tuned to CNBC for financial news as I understand it is considered the best of the financial networks and is supposedly politically neutral. The last thing we need in the locker room are political discussions, and by the way, i never hear any of the locker room talk Billy Bush did.
Of course the stock market is gaining, the Republicans are controlling not only both houses of congress and the presidency but the liberal/conservative balance of the supreme court. They all are promising tax cuts and the right for corporations to donate unlimited amounts to our political system, such as it is.
This means the rich are going to get very much richer and the middle class is going to pick up the bill by having the national debt ramp through the ceiling.
Who the hell is dumb enough to believe that by cutting federal revenue (think taxes) the increase in the GDP will more than make up the difference when the reason corporate profits are already so high is because the billionaires of Wall Street who control them, are squeezing the salaries of the workers to drive profits and stocks up.
This voodoo economics model has been proven false multiple times and needs to have a stake driven through its heart.
The insanity of this is the workers are who drive the GDP through the purchase of goods and services with their salary dollars. So far in August the "real disposable personal income" has dropped 0.1% while GDP has increased at a rate of 2.15% so far this year.
https://bea.gov/newsreleases/glance.htm
Now, what will happen with all this money that is made in the stock market? Will it be put into circulation through the purchase of products or will it be taken out of circulation through the purchase of more stocks which, by the increase in market activity, will drive the market even higher, make the billionaires even richer while the worker with no disposable income suffers more and is told how wonderful things are because the Dow Jones Industrial Average is hitting new highs. The poor dopes will believe it and praise Trump and his band of Wall Street thieves.
How dumb can people be? The stock market and the economy are NOT the same.
If a substantial portion of this money were paid to the workers the GDP would accelerate as every cent of it would be put immediately back into circulation through the purchase of goods and services the middle and lower classes are crying for. Yet many say there should be no minimum wage and workers take what is offered them or do without.
Don't we understand that if Medicare and Medicaid can be killed by villainizing the poor as bums and undeserving, all those taxes needed to pay for these benefits will be saved and dropped directly to the bottom lines of the corporate balance sheets. Stocks will increase more, the uber-rich will get even more uber-rich, the markets will increase even more, Wall Street control of Washington will be enhanced even more and the poor can suck eggs and eat cake as long as they are kept dumbed down. If they need medical care, let them get a job and buy insurance like the Ayn Rand billionaires do.
This all really sucks and greed drives this vicious cycle. Unrestrained capitalism is the enemy of the working class as much as it is the savior.
The problem is capitalism is controlled by Wall Street, not Main Street and that is what needs to change.
If you don't understand this, you don't know jack.
P.S. After posting this article the article below by economics Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz was published which supports and expands on problems not addressed but exacerbated through the proposed Republican tax program.
https://www.thenation.com/article/america-has-a-monopoly-problem-and-its-huge/
