A convincing argument for ending the Bush tax cuts for his rich friends

Not my argument, mind you, but one from political strategist Robert Creamer:

The Republicans charge that eliminating these tax breaks on the rich -- and returning them to Clinton-era levels -- would be a "job-killing tax hike in the midst of a recession." Let's recall that while the Clinton-era tax rates applied to the rich in the 1990's, the economy created more than 22.5 million jobs in less than eight years -- the most jobs ever created under a single administration. Moreover, the Federal deficit had turned into a surplus for as long as the eye could see. The number of private sector jobs created during the Bush years: zero. The Republican position amounts to nothing more than baseless pandering to the greed of their many wealthy donors.

To create more jobs, our economy needs more economic demand. We need people who are willing to go out and buy products and services. Our economic problem is not that we lack enough people who will go out and work to create the products and services we need to have better lives. Our problem is that there is not enough demand to entice businesses to increase their work forces or buy new plants and equipment.



The Bush tax cuts didn't just produce fewer jobs than advertised. They didn't produce any private sector jobs at all. The whole experiment in handing over money to the wealthiest people in America so they could use it to benefit the rest of us was a colossal -- empirically verifiable -- failure. The rich used the Bush Tax Cuts to create the gigantic economic "bubble" that ultimately burst and caused immeasurable hardship and suffering to millions of average Americans and everyday people across the globe.



Eliminating the Bush tax breaks for the very rich would save the taxpayers more than two thirds of a trillion dollars over the next decade. That money would make a substantial dent into the long-term budget deficit. And it could be used to make the desperately needed public sector investments we need to assure long term economic success -- investments in education, infrastructure, health care and new sources of energy.

Think about this during the upcoming Congressional elections. Republicans advocate policies that allow Paris Hilton to escape paying her fair share of taxes, that allows Wall Street executives to fly around in their private jobs, and pays for this by denying our children the opportunity to get the education they need or by trying to slash Social Security benefits for elderly citizens.