Friday, March 12, 2010

Well, we're screwed

Everyone in Georgia, sit back and drink it in.

You live in a state managed by people so disconnected from reality, so oblivious to what's going on around them, so averse to recognizing the truths of basic economic data and so slavishly addicted to following through on their own ideological agenda, that they're doing their darnedest to take our state straight back to the 1800s.

It seems the Republicans in Atlanta have unleashed their own stimulus package, and it's cloaked in the same discredited ideas they've forced upon this state since seizing power seven long years ago. In fact, just read the headline for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article and truly absorb how comical it is.

'State GOP lawmakers propose tax cuts'

It's absurd isn't it?

Our economy is melting down, and we've got a $2 billion-plus budget shortfall here at home ... and the only response they can offer is 'tax cut, tax cut, tax cut.' The only weapon they have in their arsenal to address these serious issues is one that ultimately eliminates a primary source of revenue, and, given that we're a balanced budget state, means we're going to have to find a way to slash up to $1 billion more from our investments in the long-term.

It's all they've got, and in order to sell it, they've got to rehash tired cliches that fail in the light of overwhelming evidence.

So when Rep. Jerry Keen spouts some nonsense that this measure will create jobs because businesses will increase investment with less regulation and lower taxes ... he wants you to disregard the fact that state and local taxes only amount to 0.8 to 1.2 percent of the costs of doing business.

When Sen. Chip Rogers puts forward some pathetic line about government  finding ways to tax people and that Georgia can be 'a beacon to say there is a better way, a way that works' ... he wants to you to ignore the fact that, well, he doesn't have the faintest idea what he's talking about. Because, in fact, a 'better way 'would place a premium on making the necessary investments in infrastructure, education, job training, etc. and etc. and rely on those strengths to attract business and create jobs.

But they're not really concerned about pursuing a 'better way' ... instead they're obsessed with executing an ideologically driven agenda that features policy proposals so discredited that economists across the board find them laughable. They're preoccupied with scoring political points via what they think are witty one-liners aimed at snubbing the rest of the country. They're relishing being the outlyers when it comes to what's the right thing to do and the wrong thing to do. They're indifferent to the fact that we're ushering in Draconian cuts and creating another budget crisis in the short term future.

This is what we've got. These are the cards we've been dealt. This is what our future holds.

Tax cuts for the sake of tax cuts, with no recognition or evaluation of if they're actually achieving a valid policy proposal or hindering our ability to make investments in education, health care or what have you.

Awesome, isn't it?

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