True to form: The Republican budget
By
Max J. Castro Read Spanish Version
majcastro@gmail.com
“After
getting blasted last week for presenting a budget plan light on
details, House Republicans yesterday unveiled a more complete
proposal that would cut taxes for businesses and the wealthy, freeze
most government spending for five years, halt spending approved in
the economic stimulus package and slash federal health programs for
the poor and elderly.”
—The
Washington Post
(April 2, 2009)
If
they have proven anything, today’s Republican Party has proven its
consistent tendency to favor the rich, beggar the poor, and ignore
reality. The budget alternative they presented last week is a perfect
example. Under the guise of limiting the deficit, the Republicans are
proposing exactly the wrong measures to deal with the economic
meltdown: freezing spending, killing
the
stimulus package, and slashing federal programs. It’s a formula for
turning our current Great Recession into the Great Depression II.
Republicans
say they want to curtail the deficit but only on the backs of the
poor and sick. For the rich, they are proposing one more tax cut,
which would have a massive impact on revenues, therefore raising the
deficit.
The
GOP proposal is nearly the exact opposite of the Obama proposal,
which they attack using the old bromides: it spends too much, borrows
too much, and taxes too much. It seems as if any tax would be too
much for the Republicans, especially a tax on the wealthy. At their
news conference to tout their budget they heaped scorn on the
Democratic budget proposal. Unsustainable! Unconscionable!
The
Republican’s own budget is so unrealistic and has so little chance
to be implemented that it has gotten comparative little attention in
the media. The Washington
Post
covered it in an eight-paragraph story on page A6. It didn’t help
that the Group of 20 is meeting in London and that Barack Obama is
stealing the headlines by achieving a diplomatic breakthrough with
Russia on nuclear arms’ reductions.
Still,
despite its irrelevance, the budget proposal serves as an excellent
indicator of what the GOP continues to stand for. Devoid of leaders,
bereft of ideas, they seem to be going through the motions of
mounting an opposition.
But
if House Republicans have set a new standard in regard to their
solicitude for the rich, they are not the only ones playing the game.
In the Senate, Blanche Lincoln (D-Arkansas) and Jon Kyl (R-Arizona)
are proposing a deep cut in the inheritance tax, a tax paid only by
the very richest Americans. The measure would cost the Treasury
billions of dollars while minimally improving the lives of those who
are already obscenely rich.
The
United States is living in an era of inequality not seen since the
1920s. It seems that for most Republicans and a few Democrats, such a
disastrous level of economic disparity is not enough.
