How the latest proposed tax cuts lead to the dismantling of the middle class in America
President Obama’s latest capitulation to the greed of the Republicans is unparalled in the blatant disregard for the middle class of the United States. In the event you are just coming out of a coma let me enlighten you as to the facts on the Obama Tax Cut Proposal.
Social Security is being Dismantled
The financing mechanism for social security has been cut by 30%; further eroding the ability of this program to provide the funds for those who are retired, disabled, as well as for widows and children. This is not some abstract idea to me, as my son lost his father when he was an infant and it has been a long 14 years of scratching by. In order to pay for the current social security benefits the fund has to borrow money, to the tune of 112 million. The reduction in Social Security funding will mean our children will have to pay higher taxes in the future to make up for the funding shortfall, to say nothing of the fact I have paid into it since I was fourteen years old.
Impact on the National Debt
The United States overspending is financed by other countries, including China, who have now decided that the US debt is not such a good investment and they have raised the interest rate the US must pay (which is akin to a drop in the bond rating of the nation). This country is spending 39% of the entire 2010 annual budget on war and half of that is on a discretionary defense budget; since I no longer have a discretionary budget, I suggest we get rid of that expense and balance the budget like the rest of us.
Impact on the Average American
The impotent rational for the give-a-way to the rich was the extension of unemployment benefits to the 15 million people who are out of work, of which I am one. Why does there have to be a rational when the country is in a depression and job cuts are at every level both private sector and in all levels of government? Once again government is out of touch with the daily lives of its citizens.
According to the latest figures from the World Bank the average income in this country is $47,240 and the tax cuts provide less of proportional benefit to the average American, with $1,000 for those earning $50,000 and $2,000 for those earning $100,000. People who earn the former need the money more.
The entire spend for Medicare and Medicaid health care programs is only 23% of the budget and with current Social Security spending that adds another 20%, for a grand total of 43%. Yes, that is right folks; your government spends nearly as much on war as on all of the benefits, which you have paid for, for everyone else in the country. At least Obama has included health care in the benefit equation, but he capitulated on that too, by letting the insurance lobby create an expensive mess instead of more affordable national health care.
The top 3% don’t need the tax breaks and boo hoo on their estate taxes; they set up trusts, and use insurance to pay that tab anyway. And whatever happened to the adage you can’t take it with you?
Conclusion
It is about time the elected officials in this country started having more respect for the poor working stiffs, who are not getting ahead, instead of catering to the rich, who are obviously born under a different star. So Mr. Obama as you continue to spend 40% of the budget on a war that we never should have entered and dismantle my Social Security benefits, I look forward to opening that can of Friskies for dinner. The dismantling of the middle-class will bring a revolution to this country, for which I am prepared to serve. Ending on a positive note I salute Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont for his nine and a half hour filibuster decrying the injustice of this tax proposal.
This article was written by Roberta E. Winter, MHA, MPA an independent health policy analyst and may be reprinted with her permission.
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