| We need to remember that the money class does not produce anything of any real value. They just depend on property rights to control the rewards of value creation. The recent statistics show that has the American workers have become more productive over the last 30 years but that the value of that productivity has been siphoned off almost entirely by the wealthy and shipped overseas (along the the jobs) to places where the return on investment is much greater. Note that this has gone so far that the middle class, the engine of consumption which drives 70% of the economy, now can no longer afford to expand its consumption. Thus the economy cannot expand. (The investment function of the economy only follows the markets created by consumption, so they aren't expanding either.)
And why is return on investment so much greater overseas? Because conservatives have starved investment in infrastructure and have starved the process of developing the American workforce to be more productive. As one example, it has been cheaper to hire H1b workers out of school than to hire American workers. The employers then use the H1b workers until they reach about age 40 and become more valuable, then they hire a new grad and fire the H1b worker. Note that American workers need not apply in this process. The few American workers who do join this process also peak out financially about age 40. Their choice then is usually to get an MBA in management or stagnate. In both cases they cease generally to be innovative because the innovative individuals are those working directly with the process they innovate in. (The few exceptions generally move to academia where they are largely starved for funding by the conservatives.)
In the meantime China and India are investing in their infrastructure and in their workforce, while happily accepting back the experienced H1b workers the American economy has trained then kicked out to lead their newer workforce.
The catfood commission report by two millionaires simply continues the American class warfare of the wealthy parasitic investors against the working class as they move to create an American economy that more closely mirrors Latin American class-based economies than it does modern industrial economies. It is no surprise that the millionaires fear that their lack of productivity will be recognized and subject them to the taxes they should be paying on their unearned wealth. (Most inherited it.) But the reaction of the inherited money class is to try to repress the middle class and to siphon off the savings they contributed to their retirement plan so the millionaires can either invest it overseas or spend it on conspicuous consumption..
On top of all that, the big problem with the deficit is rising health care expenses - exactly what Obama focused on after saving the economy from Great Depression II. Destroy8ng the middle class and Social Security does nothing to change the deficit. All it does is change the distribution of wealth in America away from the wealth producers to the parasites living on inherited wealth.
Social Security is properly financed and can never contribute to the deficit. If the benefits ever exceed anticipated revenue from the FICA tax, then according to the original 1935 law the benefits will be reduced to what can be paid that year. The worst case scenario is a 25% reduction and the Social Security system has always exceed the most likely projection. Social Security is only a big pot of money the money class wants to get their hands on to divert to themselves.
The Budget-Deficit Mania is just another iteration of the "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." crap handed out by the money class in their continued war against the American productive class of workers. It's a load of self-serving crap by the same panicky people who are trying to get the inheritance taxes eliminated because they know damned well they would never be able to earn even minimum wage based on the skills they actually have.
Written as a comment to "Why We Should Be Aware Of The Budget-Deficit Mania" by Robert Reich at TPM Cafe.
You may get the impression that I am really pissed. I am. And the President I mistakenly voted for over Hillary is no damned help! He and his spokesTurkey are clueless and useless except as a placeholders keeping the Republicans out!] |
