Debt deal: anger and deceit has led the US into a billionaires' coup

[babsbunny]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/aug/01/us-debt-deal-tea-party

The debt deal will hurt the poorest Americans, convinced by Fox and the Tea Party to act against their own welfare

George Monbiot
guardian.co.uk, Monday 1 August 2011 16.29 EDT

There are two ways of cutting a deficit: raising taxes or reducing spending. Raising taxes means taking money from the rich. Cutting spending means taking money from the poor. Not in all cases of course: some taxation is regressive; some state spending takes money from ordinary citizens and gives it to banks, arms companies, oil barons and farmers. But in most cases the state transfers wealth from rich to poor, while tax cuts shift it from poor to rich.

So the rich, in a nominal democracy, have a struggle on their hands. Somehow they must persuade the other 99% to vote against their own interests: to shrink the state, supporting spending cuts rather than tax rises. In the US they appear to be succeeding.

[BlueJazz]

1. It's truly an education thing. The perception of the poor "getting everything for free" ..

...is sadly in error.

I saw a study about 6 months ago that show a large proportion of the populace think that
OVER 30 percent of taxes go to food stamps, housing and such.

I think ???..it's something like 4 percent.

We have to fight this ignorance with the facts.

[tama]

3. Most of it

goes to robbing people and the planet.

[dkf]

2. So if spending has increased so much why aren't things better for the poor?

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/07/government-spending-as-a-percentage-of-gdp-2/