"It's absolutely insane that in these tough economic times, some people want to continue the George Bush tax giveaway for millionaires," Trumka continued. "It doesn't create jobs. It's bad policy and it's bad for the economy."
Trumka, in a formulation that just might stick, labeled an extension of the high-end cuts "Tarp Two."
"Instead of bailing out the banks, we're bailing out the people at the helm," Trumka said.
I do love me a good meme. I thought this one was worth passing around. Let's all call the extension of the high-end Bush tax cuts TARP Two.
This is the perfect meme, and it needs to be spread around as much and as fast as possible.
This is particularly true, given how poorly the high-end tax cuts are understood. Conservatives routinely tout them as promoting growth. Tea Partier's are encouraged to support them, because "If my boss gets a tax cut, maybe I'll get a raise." Of course your boss has had that tax cut for years, so how's that working out for you?
More to the point, tax cuts for the rich actually work exactly the opposite of that, as I've heard David Cay Johnson explain on a couple of local Pacifica shows over the past week or so: business owners benefit from these tax cuts when they take money out of their companies--out of productive use--and buy luxury goods, such as paintings or whatever.
Using the "TARP II" meme would help push a totally different way of viewing the tax cuts, one that's already got a lot of emotion and attitude connected to it. Not to mention one that's a lot more accurate than the BS conservatives are pushing.
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