Midnight Meme Of The Day!

-by Noah

What all Republicans, the majority of Democrats, and media hacks euphemistically and cynically call "Tax Reform," is obviously nothing of the sort. Only those who are eagerly susceptible to brainwashing would believe that real reform is what politicians have in mind with the lowering of their own tax rates and the lowering of the tax rates of those they spend all day picking up the phone and dialing for "contributions" from. Politics is a 24 hour cash exchange business. It's "you give me cash and I'll lower your personal and corporate tax rates, all nice and legal like." Yeah, nice and legal like in Columbia or Bolivia.

Perish the thought that we might each pay $2.00 a year to fund political campaigns, and perish the thought that we might actually put real, reasonable, and loophole-proof limits on the amount of money that a given politician can spend on his or her campaign. "Where's the fun in that," they would say. "What about all that cash I suddenly wouldn't have in my pocket?" "How would I pay for my hookers?"

As today's meme indicates, back in the 1950's, the tax rates made a lot more sense if one actually wanted to grow the economy and strengthen the country. What better way to have people buy the goods some corporation makes than to build a large middle class that has disposable income to spend on your products? None of that is what the majority of today's politicians are interested in. They are just along for the ride, and what a ride it is! They talk about "tax reform" and we pay for their fine dining and healthcare.

We also now have crumbling bridges and highways that increase the wear and tear on our cars, thus increasing the cost of our vehicle ownership when we have to replace tires, shock absorbers, and windshields far more often; something that could be dramatically lessened if the roads were kept in better condition. Instead of federal and state taxes paying for transportation infrastructure, we are, in essence, billed directly when faulty roads and bridges damage our cars. All of this is not to mention the increase in accident, hospital, and funeral expenses incurred due to bad roads and bad bridges. I guess this is all part of the traditional conservative belief that everything should just be on a "survival of the fittest" basis.

Meanwhile, hospitals rely on the donations of a minority of the rich, and, of course, ever-increasing astronomical medical costs to, you guessed it, us. What is the republican solution? Healthcare only for those who can afford it. To the rest of you, you'd best, as Alan Grayson has pointed out, "die and die quickly." That dovetails nicely with their successful efforts to increase the income gaps and eliminate the middle class altogether. It's their nearly realized wet dream of a future of the mega-rich few with the rest of us being slaves or near slaves; the pre-Magna Carta time of Lords and Serfs.

Yes, our taxes once got us to the moon, but that's that dreaded science thing that Republicans deny. Hell, half of them will tell you that they have proof that the landings on the moon were fake. It's all part of their "fake news" insanity. Sensible tax codes even paid for returning soldiers getting an education and learning science in schools! Imagine that!

The 1950's tax codes that actually did make America great are now a long gone thing from 60+ years ago. Most Americans who benefited from that structure will soon be gone. Already, teachers in schools dare not bring it up. What actually did make America great will soon be completely forgotten. Your elected representatives and their CEO masters are counting on it. Welcome to the new 12th century!