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The Demise of the GOP as We Know It?

 

DENVER, July 11, 2011 – The following statement has been issued by Jorge H. Moromisato, Director of the Reformed Economics Institute and author of “The Denver Plan to End Unemployment”:

An infusion of Tea Party extremism seems to have infected the Republican Party. Even before they took their seats in Congress, Tea Partisans had converted the GOP into a staunch defender of the super-rich — the 1% top earners in the nation.

Perhaps encouraged by last December’s victory — when the GOP successfully blackmailed your Administration into extending the Bush tax cuts for the super-rich — the Republicans are now threatening to shut down the government by refusing to increase the debt ceiling unless your party, the Democrats, agrees to sharp budget cuts for the next decade without any tax increases.

All experts agree that there is no way to reduce the fiscal deficit without a combination of spending cuts and tax increases. The GOP, however, has decided that any tax increase on the super-rich will only pass over the dead body of the entire nation; that is absolutely unconscionable.

Last week (Fourth of July) David Brooks, in his NY Times regular article, blamed the GOP’s position on the influence of members of the Tea Party. He concludes his article with a very serious warning to his own party:

“If the debt ceiling talks fail, independent voters will see that Democrats were willing to compromise but Republicans were not … They will conclude that Republicans are not fit to govern.

“And they will be right.”

The GOP has drawn a line in the sand over the issue of “no increase in government revenues.” If the debt ceiling talks fail, it will not be clear that the GOP was at fault; after all, standing on the principle of “no more taxes” beats “no more spending cuts” by a mile. Your Administration cannot afford the talks to fail over those issues, but neither can it afford the public reaction to the austerity measures that will follow an agreement on the GOP’s terms. Your only chance of winning, now and in November 2012, would be to make crystal-clear what the real issue is:

Does protecting the super-rich from a small tax increase justify bringing the entire nation down?

My advice would be that you take the following three steps:

  1. Present to Congress a deficit-reduction plan including a gradual increase in taxes on the super-rich.
  2. Ask for a Supreme Court pronouncement reminding Congress of its obligation to raise the debt ceiling without pre-conditions. [Art. 1, Section 8, “… To make all laws which shall be necessary …”]
  3. Explain to the nation what the real issue in contention is (a fair tax on the super-rich), and keep doing it until the message gets through to the people.

Your Administration, Mr. President, is facing a terrible danger, but also a great opportunity: depending on how you chose to fight, or not, you will contribute to the GOP’s demise, or to its ascendance.

Contact:

Jorge H. Moromisato
(303) 321-0577
jhmor@q.com

 

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4 Comments

  1. The author makes some very strong points but ultimately fails on account of misrepresenting the fundamental argument. This is not about Republicans simply refusing to conceed to any revenue increases, this is about Republicans clinging to the mandate they believed got them elected and refusing to compromise until Democrats show an ounce of good faith. After the Health Care travesty who can blame them?

    Hopefully Republicans will find a way to own the legitamate “loop hole” issues, like how GE managed not to pay a penny in taxes. I even bet that could be directly linked to Democrat policy.

    If they allow Obama to misrepresent the issue as “Republicans once again protecting the uber-rich at the expence of everyone else” and continue to paint a false impression that “Dems only want to close unintended loopholes that corporations exploit”, Republicans will have utterly wasted every last penny of political capital they earned in the last election, and may even owe quite a few.

  2. Raising taxes on the rich will not be paid by the rich. They’ll be paid by consumers through cost increases. The cost of doing business [and taxes are a cost of doing business] will go up, and will be transferred in the form of price hikes and in job loses. This is a class envy ploy by the left to get the republicans to raise taxes so that they can beat them over the head with it in the next election, and to dis-hearten and depress the the Tea Party movement. I say don’t fall for it!!!

    1. I agree!! Even Charles Payne says the U.S. Treasury can pay all outstanding obligations and we the taxpayers have a lot left for existing programs.

    2. “IF” Tea Party support for the 1% is disheartened/depressed they really should not be, the organizers and their billionaire friends all got the 10-year tax cut extension they invested in. The Tea Party performed and delivered.

      Alternatively, we’ve just begun to fight back in recent couple weeks. When we do, you call it class envy or war. (Incidentally, check the polls, (Rueters and PPP) the Occupiers earn twice the favorability points as Tea Party. Your own rhetoric is about to make the conceptual abstraction of “class warfare” a household word and… “a good thing.” Keep it up.)

      First, Conservatives own half of the US Congress today. They have a responsibility to the people of this country.

      Second, our financial system and economy was compromised by 5 banks (and the 1% executives who earned bonuses for doing so), trading 95% of the $62 trillion value in credit default swaps, unregulated under Bush, in credit default swaps on the derivatives market. The value of that market grew from $1 trillion in value to $62 trillion between 2001 and 2008…under Bush. Problem was, these banksters were allowed to place bets they could not pay when called. They were also allowed to bet against the loans they made to their very own clients/borrowers. They were left ‘unregulated” and they were irresponsible. Greenspan was wrong in his guess about these sophisticated players in our capitalist system, admittedly. The banks were not able to protect their own interests from their own executive’s bonus structuring. We are paying the pay price.

      Conservatives need to fix our financial system… now. Occupier’s troop strength will grow… to be able to fix it ourselves. If, (when), we get there…. you can be sure we’ll fix what ever else we believe is broken.

      Love,
      one voice of 99% and occupy protesters.

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