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Republicans have the answer. Economic Fixer, Miracle Elixir...By Rick Horowitz That old business about enough monkeys and enough typewriters? Makes sense to me. You throw multiple monks at multiple keyboards, give them enough time to pound away at the things, and who knows what can happen? Maybe one of them will come up with "Hamlet." Which is why monkeys are much more interesting than Republicans. With monkeys, anything is possible -- even Shakespeare. With Republicans -- with Republican politicians, at least -- it's the same two words every time out. Tax cuts. Sometimes it's three words: Big tax cuts. Doesn't matter what the problem is. Doesn't even matter if there is a problem. If you've got a question, Republicans have an answer, neat and clean, shiny and bright. Tax cuts -- the miracle cure for whatever ails you. At this very moment, in fact, the Grand Old Party's grand old congressional leaders are going head-to-head with the prez himself, trying to have their tax-cutting way with the budget and with the next campaign. They're pushing for cuts of $800 billion or so over the next 10 years. Bill Clinton is willing to live with smaller, more targeted cuts, he says. He'd rather hold on to more of the sudden surplus, he says, to shore up Social Security and Medicare and education and the like. No way, say the Republicans. With the economy booming and trillions of extra dollars flooding the treasury, now is the perfect time to give the people's money back to the people. Let's have tax cuts. Big tax cuts. It's not an unreasonable position: When times are good, cut taxes. Except, of course, that not too long ago, the Republicans had a somewhat different position: When times are bad, cut taxes. Does the name Ronald Reagan ring a bell? Ronald Reagan, you'll recall, rode the Republican anti-tax revolution right into the White House. After the economic stagnation of the Jimmy Carter years, the Land of the Free Lunch was ready for something different, and Ronald Reagan was ready to give it to them. Cut taxes, Ronald Reagan said. Cut taxes and America's entrepreneurial spirit will be reborn. Cut taxes and the creative geniuses who are (supposedly) sitting on their hands because tax rates are so high will dive in and start creating jobs for ordinary folks once again. Cut taxes, Ronald Reagan said, and the deficit will go down. As curvy lines on restaurant napkins go, this particular claim was compelling art and great politics. It was also, as it happened, hooey. The tax cuts came in, the rich folks fur-lined their pockets, and the deficit went stratospheric. Oops. Fast-forward a decade or so, and a newly inaugurated Bill Clinton proposes what the Republican Soundbite Guide has insisted ever since on calling "the largest tax increase in American history." Bring the deficit down with higher taxes and spending cuts, Clinton argues, and interest rates will fall and the economy will grow. No way, say the Republicans. Pass Clinton's plan and economic growth will be smothered in its crib. We don't need to raise taxes, the Republicans cry; we need to cut taxes. So Clinton's package makes it through Congress without a single Republican vote in either the House or the Senate. And the economy? Whoosh! It's boom times, year after year. More fur for the rich folks, and for all the new rich folks, too, and there's even plenty left over for the folks in the middle. The most vulnerable folks -- the old, the young, the poor, the sick -- still need a helping hand, of course. And with all that extra money pouring into Washington, this could be the ideal opportunity to try to provide it. Call it generosity. Call it an investment in the common good. Just don't call on the Republicans. They already have a plan: Tax cuts. Big tax cuts. Those monkeys look better all the time. Posted
7/13/99. Check out the latest poundings from Rick's keyboard
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