Joe the Plumber repeats the bogus frame
I caught Maher's rather weak "interview" with Joe the Plumber this past Friday. I was disappointed that Maher didn't roast him for throwing up the usual outworn conservative meme that Obama (or liberals in general) want to raise taxes so he (we) can give money to the undeserving, free-loading poor. Maher should have reframed that. First of all, the tax increase is minuscule, and it comes after Bush cut taxes several times for the wealthy. Second, the best reason for raising taxes on the rich is to invest that money in America. Build roads, bridges, schools, hospitals . . . improve quality of life for everyone through education, health care, the environment, transportation, etc. It's not about "punishing success". It's about the smart allocation of public funds. For the public, for once. What a concept! Actually take public funds and spend it for the public, not for private gain.
Conservative ideology wants us to believe that if we just cut taxes, everything will be great. Even though it has never worked before, in the entire history of America, they want us to believe that suddenly, for the first time, rich folks will take their tax cuts and create jobs. He talked again about how cutting taxes will bring American jobs back. I wish Maher had schooled him in history and math. Basically, if you give a corporation a choice between X and Y, and they can only choose one, corporations will choose X. X being the ability to ship jobs overseas and pay workers 10 cents on the dollar. Y being tax reduction. Even if you cut corporate rates to zero (2/3rds of American corporations paid just that in the last decade anyway), corporations would still ship jobs overseas, because paying 10 cents on the dollar is better than paying zero in taxes. Not to mention the fact that they don't have to pay health care costs overseas, and the regulatory structure is even more lax there than it is here.
It's not taxes, Joe. Taxes aren't the issue. Cutting them won't save jobs, create jobs, or bring jobs back. Taking tax dollars from rich folks will, if that money is spent wisely. Building roads, bridges, hospitals creates jobs here. You can't outsource them. Building up our green infrastructure creates jobs here. You can't outsource infrastructure work. Creating a smart electrical, energy and transportation grid creates jobs here. You can't outsource infrastructure work.
FDR did the right thing. But we actually need to go beyond what he did. Invest virtually all of our budget into creating a 21st century nation. Build it here. This won't happen if the private sector alone is involved. There isn't enough immediate profit in the deal for them. The government has to do it, cuz it doesn't have to make a profit. It can invest without worrying about that. For our future. We all benefit, including the rich.
Finally, when the Joe the Plumbers of this world talk about how they love this country, they need to be held accountable for that empty rhetoric. Nothing they propose would benefit this country. It just benefits roughly 1% of it. Time to counter that nonsense passionately, with confidence and intensity. Our Media should do it, but they won't, cuz they're a part of that 1%.
Joe the Plumber doesn't realize he's being used. The proverbial useful idiot. I just wish more in the Media would counter that and expose it and expose the puppet masters once and for all.
Conservative ideology wants us to believe that if we just cut taxes, everything will be great. Even though it has never worked before, in the entire history of America, they want us to believe that suddenly, for the first time, rich folks will take their tax cuts and create jobs. He talked again about how cutting taxes will bring American jobs back. I wish Maher had schooled him in history and math. Basically, if you give a corporation a choice between X and Y, and they can only choose one, corporations will choose X. X being the ability to ship jobs overseas and pay workers 10 cents on the dollar. Y being tax reduction. Even if you cut corporate rates to zero (2/3rds of American corporations paid just that in the last decade anyway), corporations would still ship jobs overseas, because paying 10 cents on the dollar is better than paying zero in taxes. Not to mention the fact that they don't have to pay health care costs overseas, and the regulatory structure is even more lax there than it is here.
It's not taxes, Joe. Taxes aren't the issue. Cutting them won't save jobs, create jobs, or bring jobs back. Taking tax dollars from rich folks will, if that money is spent wisely. Building roads, bridges, hospitals creates jobs here. You can't outsource them. Building up our green infrastructure creates jobs here. You can't outsource infrastructure work. Creating a smart electrical, energy and transportation grid creates jobs here. You can't outsource infrastructure work.
FDR did the right thing. But we actually need to go beyond what he did. Invest virtually all of our budget into creating a 21st century nation. Build it here. This won't happen if the private sector alone is involved. There isn't enough immediate profit in the deal for them. The government has to do it, cuz it doesn't have to make a profit. It can invest without worrying about that. For our future. We all benefit, including the rich.
Finally, when the Joe the Plumbers of this world talk about how they love this country, they need to be held accountable for that empty rhetoric. Nothing they propose would benefit this country. It just benefits roughly 1% of it. Time to counter that nonsense passionately, with confidence and intensity. Our Media should do it, but they won't, cuz they're a part of that 1%.
Joe the Plumber doesn't realize he's being used. The proverbial useful idiot. I just wish more in the Media would counter that and expose it and expose the puppet masters once and for all.
