Let's Stay Focused on the Right Kind of Economic Recovery

You have to tip your hat to the conservatives in Congress for one thing, at least: They know how to keep their eye on the ball.

Even after an electoral disaster. Even with their basic theory of supply side economics lying in tatters. Even with the myth of the market as the unerring answer to all economic questions exposed as nothing more than a cynical hoax, they’re still waging class warfare on the rest of us.

Their ideas for an economic recovery plan? Cut the capital gains tax (or eliminate it entirely) and cut corporate taxes (never mind that many corporations already find ways to pay little or no income taxes).  A study by the Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute found that 70 percent of the largest corporations there paid no state income tax in one recent year. 

“We need a balanced approach,” they say. I couldn’t agree more.

For far too long the field has been tilted heavily toward corporations and the wealthy. The tax system, regulatory controls, and the banking and investment systems were all manipulated to give big business a pass and make the top 5 percent fabulously wealthy while most of America struggled to break even; most working families saw their income fall during the last eight years.