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CNN's Fareed Zakaria says the easiest way to cut the deficit is to let the Bush tax cuts expire.copyright 2010 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org
The day was Sunday, August 1, 2010. Former Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan appeared on Meet the Press. When asked to discuss the Congressional debate on tax cuts, the man known to move markets, a person who leans to the "Right," offered a decisive decree. In direct disagreement with Republican officials and the profitable corporations that fund countless political campaigns, Mister Greenspan declared, "Look, I'm very much in favor of tax cuts, but not with borrowed money. And the problem that we've gotten into in recent years is spending programs with borrowed money, tax cuts with borrowed money, and at the end of the day, that proves disastrous. And my view is I don't think we can play subtle policy here on it."
This statement was as a slap in the face to corporations, or more correctly to the tycoons who head these firms. Multi-millionaire media moguls might understand this best. These television and radio Executives experience firsthand that influence over an industry can translate into influence over an outcome. Cable News Network Chief Officers are among those who actively make use of this truth. Tax cuts expired? "Never;" say network Administrators and the newscasters such as Allan Chernoff, who do their bidding.
Prominent persons in the Press know a snappy slogan, a simple statement repeated over and over again, an authoritative analysis, will yield a colossal return. If the powerful exert pressure, they can sway the public and those who will persuade Congress to act, or not take action. Without resorting to force, the wealthy need not worry. Forceful levy loopholes and tax rate reducers were long ago secured and still loom large.
Companies, most of which pay no United States taxes are often led by the affluent who, for years, sought greater protection for their wealth.. Indeed, many corporations forfeit less in levies in 2010 than in previous years. Deductions are a delightful indulgence. Even the electorate has grown to appreciate this pleasurable pursuit.
Individuals influenced by industry infomercials have insisted on the luxury. Tax bills in 2009 are at the lowest level since 1950. Regardless, many moneyed Americans want these lowered, if not eliminated in total. Thus, the public sees what they have for days, or is it weeks, a flood of news stories that speak in contrast to Economist Greenspan's pronouncement. The powerful understand that the former Fed Chairs statement was quite a severe blow to those invested in a taxless ideology.
On the same date, on Cable News Network's a distinguished Anchor, Newsweek and Washington Post Columnist, Fareed Zakaria concurred. The time to cut the deficit and let the Bush tax cuts expire is now. Editor of Newsweek International and a New York Times bestselling Author, Mister Zakaria asserts, "Were the tax cuts to expire, the budget deficit would instantly shrink by about 30 percent, or more than $300 billion. But Republicans are now adamantly opposed to any expiration of the Bush tax cuts because they say that would weaken the economy." This contention, with consideration for a credible source, was a second slam to commercial interests and to the political Party that promotes their causes.
Mister Zakaria's editorial would not be aired endlessly on various outlets. Nor would Alan Greenspan's words be heard on many a local channel. Another expert on policy, one who also speaks for the "Right", David Stockman, former Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan would also be kept out of sight.
Only a day earlier, an article penned by Mister Stockman appeared in The New York Times. In the missive, Stockman, once identified as a man with "Lincolnesque credentials" expressed the angst he feels when his cohorts' claim the need to extend the tax cuts. The Reagan Budget Director cynically summarizes "How my Republican Party destroyed the American economy." The treatise titled Four Deformations of the Apocalypse, was the final strike.
These slams could not stand, high salaried Chief Executives and their shills, such as Cable News Network, calculated. Turner Broadcasting Systems decided to turn the ultimate key. Media is the message. The Press is able to manufacture promotional presentations and produce alternative authenticities. The company realized the need to take restrained; yet aggressive action. Slick salespersons, public relations professionals in the Press are well aware of the sound adage; a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, in the most delightful way. People like sweetened solutions.
While true; each of the three esteemed experts spoke eloquently, and with abundant authority, the more persuasive and popular drone can and does drown out a meaningful message. Cable News Network has vast resources and knowledge of how to deliver decisively, the populace demands, words of woe and whoa! The Turner channels, with Corporate Chiefs interest at heart, transmits, as many Republicans, Democrats, and Independents wish to believe; life as we have come to know it cannot change.
Regardless of Party affiliation, in America the public professes, "We are taxed enough." En masse, citizens clamor; "No new taxes!" "No tax increases!" We do not want to pay the price, is the consensus. Most do not want to acknowledge, as Alan Greenspan and Fareed Zakaria have, Americans have paid for their own indulgence and chosen ignorance dearly.
In accordance with the adopted corporate mission, the wishes of Chief Executives, and possibly his own penchant, Correspondent Allan Chernoff compiled a report that would please the common folk. This puff-piece touts as the public wishes to believe; the people need not contribute to the greater good of the community. The innocent "documentation" that passes for fact, or is passed on as the truth, floods the airwaves. It appears on local stations and hour after hour on network programs.
This "news story" (sic) makes no mention of how the quoted sources benefit from a promoted belief, "In planning to let taxes rise, President Obama hopes to chop the budget deficit. But if families have to cut back on spending to pay those taxes, that may hurt the economy. It could de-rail the recovery."
The Press hides what threatens the wealthy; the words of Alan Greenspan, He said "The problem that we've gotten into in recent years is that spending programs with borrowed money, tax cuts with borrowed money, and at the end of the day that proves disastrous and my view is I don't think we can play subtle policy here."
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