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Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

The words do not have to be perfect.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

I was promised a recession.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Let there be snark.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

A last alliance of elves and men. also pet photos.

Everybody saw this coming.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

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T R E 4 5 O N

You are here: Home / Politics / Republican Stupidity / If You Only Know One Song

If You Only Know One Song

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Sing it loud and sing it often:

Congress should cut the top marginal tax rate for individuals as its newest stimulus, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said Tuesday.

The conservative senator said that not only should the Congress keep in place the tax cuts enacted earlier this decade by President George W. Bush, but also cut the top rate even further.

“What we need to do is what I’ve proposed and many Republicans is, first of all, we stop this tax explosion that’s scheduled for next year,” DeMint said during an appearance on Fox News. “The Bush tax cuts expire. Every tax that you can think of goes up — capital gains, alternative minimum, marriage penalty. It all comes back into play.”

I find it terrifying that he is serious, and I wonder what noted climatologist Sarah Palin thinks about this idea.

Reader Interactions

58Comments

  1. 1.

    Warren Terra

    I can’t imagine a better short-term stimulus than to permanently increase the amount of money taken home by the people with the least need to spend it, and I’ve never heard of any better ideas, ever.

  3. 3.

    arguingwithsignposts

    The conservative senator said that not only should the Congress keep in place the tax cuts enacted earlier this decade by President George W. Bush, but also cut the top rate even further.

    Just. shoot. me.

    We are all sieves now.

  4. 4.

    Comrade Dread

    “What we need to do is what I’ve proposed and many Republicans is, first of all, we stop this tax explosion that’s scheduled for next year,

    Step two, we declare all spending war spending and move it off of the books so it costs us nothing and we have a budget surplus.

    Because we’re fiscal f***ing conservatives and that’s how we roll.

    -Dread +2

  5. 5.

    Why oh why

    Eliminating the capital gains tax would also help win the war in Afghanistan, and cure cancer.

  7. 7.

    Martin

    Why would I need any tool other than a hammer when the whole world is made up of nothing but nails?

  9. 9.

    Warren Terra

    Also, this nutty scheme isn’t new (it was the official Heritage-blessed Republican plan last year), and their other idea (get stimulus by cutting taxes on nonexistent capital gains) was even worse.

  11. 11.

    Comrade Dread

    Just cut the top marginal tax rates to 1% and rainbows will shoot out of our asses and lead us all to pots of gold.

  12. 12.

    donovong

    Once again, on the behalf of all other South Carolinians, I feel compelled to apologize to all of civilized society for this idiotic douchebag.

    Trust me – I will do everything I can to get that turd flushed down the electoral toilet when the opportunity arises.

  16. 16.

    jl

    It will be interesting to see how many of the centrist, oops, I mean fiscally responsible, oops, no, I mean corporate flunky Democratic lapdogs of the rich in Congress go along.

    Some one pointed out the basic contradiction in wanting a glibertarian minimalist no-tax national government for domestic economics and social policy, combined with a strong militaristic empire abroad and a strong security state apparatus at home. I think it was one of the commenters here.

    I hope the average voter can understand the basic insanity of such a policy mix. But I think that is exactly what the GOP and many of the so-called centrist Democrats want.

  17. 17.

    General Winfield Stuck

    Wingnuts like Demint just want Americans to be hungry and heavily armed is all. Then they will finally whip Grant’s ass.

  18. 18.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    Bob Jones’ Own Senator isn’t there because of his crack intellect or independent bonafides.

  19. 19.

    Bad Horse's Filly

    These people make me wish I drank.

    And Queen Sarah is in Colorado Springs tonight, supposedly until 10 pm, so I’m sure she’ll be on her Rogue Bus luxury jet by 8:15. Listening to the news interview her faithful makes me wonder if there is a national epidemic of inbreeding I’m unaware of.

    Edit: Wheee! I haz edit funshun

  22. 22.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    I wonder what noted climatologist Sarah Palin thinks about this idea.

    46% favorability rating, nothing else matters.

    How the hell can you have a 46% favorability rating when you quit the governor job you were failing at after a year and a half to cash in on the wingnut welfare circuit, after losing the Presidency to a black dude with a Muslim name that pal’ed around with terrorists, all the while feuding publicly like trailer trash with the kid that knocked up yer daughter.

    Maybe Jerry Springer will host the 2012 Presidential debates.

  24. 24.

    Comrade Dread

    These people make me wish I drank.

    +3 now, but it’s just making me more pissed off. Maybe I need to try harder.

    How the hell can you have a 46% favorability rating when you quit the governor job you were failing at after a year and a half to cash in on the wingnut welfare circuit, after losing the Presidency to a black dude with a Muslim name that pal’ed around with terrorists, all the while feuding publicly like trailer trash with the kid that knocked up yer daughter.

    Brawndo! Brawndo! Brawndo!

  25. 25.

    Annie

    Fine. They can cut top marginal tax rate for individuals if DeMint comes out and says that they will also cut the waste in the defense budget (entitlements to defense contractors that suck a huge amount of tax payer dollars), if he states that any other entitlements to corporate interests are cut, if he states in public that he does not support Medicare for the elderly, and that he will personally go after corporations that set up off-shore accounts to evade taxes. Also, he will cut any programs that support marriage only health education programs for youth, and cut entitlements to agro-business.

  27. 27.

    New Yorker

    Well, we’re dealing with a religious cult, remember, so the “cut taxes” bleating is kind of like the whole “Jesus’ second coming will occur in exactly 2 years, 13 days, 6 hours, and 21 minutes” nuttiness that you occasionally find among history’s more, er, colorful figures like William Miller.

    And if the tax cuts don’t actually stimulate the economy, it’s because they weren’t cut enough, just like the reason Jesus didn’t appear as scheduled is because we didn’t pray hard enough.

  28. 28.

    Comrade Dread

    They can cut top marginal tax rate for individuals if DeMint comes out and

    explains exactly how America from the 1950’s through 2001 was a socialist commie paradise because we had higher top bracket taxes.

  29. 29.

    Sly

    It all fits in with what the leader of the GOP says.

    They never moved past their Social Darwinist roots. Government exists to protect the wealthy, because wealth is prima facie evidence of moral worth. Everyone else is undeserving, and public services only addict the weak into dependency. Better to put them to work as bonded labor.

    Or have them sell their children to the wealthy as food, as a rather enterprising Irishman suggested 250 years ago.

  31. 31.

    El Cid

    The administration gave DeMinted what he wanted on recognizing the Honduran coup, so, why wouldn’t he think this made him king of all?

  32. 32.

    jl

    @New Yorker: You are probably right about the religious cult aspect. But what are we to do with them.

    Free airline tickets to the south pacific? But the cargo cults will kick them off the islands for being stupid and causing trouble.

  37. 37.

    Notorious P.A.T.

    Paris Hilton is just dying to open an oil filter plant, if she could only scrape together enough capital. . .

  40. 40.

    The Dangerman

    Why even have a capital gains tax at all? Why not just tax the poor (literally) fuckers who have to work for a living?

    /stupidfucker

    I’m finding Aerosmith’s “Eat The Rich” and cranking it to 12.

  41. 41.

    b-psycho

    How come whenever the right-wing makes these noises about taxes no one forcefully points out the inverse relation between how many people actually pay a certain rate & how much Republicans give a fuck about it?

  43. 43.

    Liberty60

    @Comrade Dread:

    They can cut top marginal tax rate for individuals if DeMint comes out and
    explains exactly how America from the 1950’s through 2001 was a socialist commie paradise because we had higher top bracket taxes.

    One of these days, I am going to reprint the 1952 Republican Party platform, and then-current marginal tax rates and hang it out around blogs like Townhall and see the wingnuts assault it a teh commie pinko crap it is.

    95% tax rates, indeed!

  44. 44.

    Jacob Davies

    If the last few years have shown us anything it is that the private sector is unable to find sufficient investment for the quantity of savings available. Hence the repeated asset bubbles and malinvestment as that Big Pile of Money sloshed around the private investment system.

    The claim is that by reducing the take-home pay of the richest, we will reduce their ability to invest the money (and apparently their incentive to work, although how the hell that is supposed to work I have no idea – most people who are paid less work more, not less). But since they have nothing useful to invest it in anyway, taking it away and investing it in useful public goods – infrastructure, education, healthcare, reducing unemployment – is likely to result in a much more efficient investment allocation.

    It might also result in a slightly less psychotic private investment market, if the ratio of savings to actually-productive-investment fell. Perhaps if so many people were not looking for magical ways to make money without taking on any risk there would be less propensity toward bubbles and manias.

    It would also encourage entrepreneurs to retain earnings in their firms to build untaxed value rather than taking them out as wages.

    In the medium-run – in fact probably in the just-a-couple-of-years-run – I suspect doing so would make these well-paid kings of industry considerably better off as the economy recovered, employment went up, and major public investment generated private positive externalities. But I guess that’s boring when you can fancy yourself John Galt right here and now.

  45. 45.

    Anoniminous

    @General Winfield Stuck:

    Wingnuts like Demint just want Americans to be hungry and heavily armed is all. Then they will finally whip Grant’s ass.

    “And where have you gone Tecumseh Sherman?
    A nation turns its lonely eyes to you.
    (Woo woo woo)
    What’s that you say, Mrs. Robinson
    Uncle Billy has left and gone away?
    (Hey hey hey. Hey hey hey.)

  47. 47.

    Rekster

    If in fact tax cuts are the answer to all problems as the Republicans shout out. Why don’t we just do away with ALL income taxes? That would allow all citizens to keep more of their money and we can all create jobs with the tax savings.

    Also, a little off topic but the Dallas Morning News is reporting:

    “Most Texas businesses next year will pay nearly triple the unemployment-benefits tax that they paid this year, the Texas Workforce Commission announced today.”

    “Texas could have avoided levying more than one-fifth of next year’s taxes if it had accepted $556 million of stimulus money. That’s true even if federally required liberalization of eligibility rules immediately were to add $90 million of new benefits costs, which some experts say wouldn’t have happened for many months. ”

    The entire article:

    http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/120909dntexunempins.332701f4d.html

    Guess Gov. Goodhair might have thought twice about turning down those federal funds.
    I will do my best to create a few jobs. Oh, wait, with “trickle down” theory then I guess there wouldn’t be anyone for the savings to trickle down to.

  48. 48.

    stickler

    Let’s all remember that what DeMint is saying was the GOP game plan all along. Gin up some fake numbers in 2002 (Look! We won’t actually create massive new debt, because the taxes actually “sunset” after 10 years!), sell the disastrous tax bill as only kind of disastrous, watch the money roll in (to their benefactors’ pockets), then count on being able to mau-mau any fiscally sane Congresscritters a decade hence — with precisely the argument DeMint is using.

    It was all about the politics of cutting taxes and winning elections. Policy was only an afterthought.

    Fiscally responsible Republicans, FTW! Or so it looked for a while.

  49. 49.

    Ian

    The Bush tax cuts expire. Every tax that you can think of goes up—capital gains, alternative minimum, marriage penalty. It all comes back into play

    Maybe you should have F***ing thought of that when you enacted a ten year tax cut. In regards to the AMT congress fixes that every year (this year in the stimulus), so even he knows he is grandstanding on that.

  51. 51.

    trollhattan

    How ’bout we double-down and get rid of that pesky death tax at the same time? Infinite revenoooz!

    How long before DeMint’s on Dancing wit de Stars?

  54. 54.

    AJ

    I scanned the article. Notice that the words” debt” and “deficit” are never mentioned?

    I wonder if DeMint and the Repukes, so fond of the CBO’s scoring on Heath Care, would jump to “score” this one? No; me neither.

  56. 56.

    jackalope

    I’m sorry, I just don’t see how sending more money to Wall Street fixes our economy.

    Because that’s what happens when you cut the top marginal tax rate. You take money that would go into the Treasury, and goes straight onto Wall Street.

    Oh, you also create a stronger reason at every company in America for an executive to freeze your pay so he can increase his own: he gets to keep more of the money he pays himself.

    Call me crazy, I’d rather see this money spent on stuff like clean water and education and healthcare and better sewer systems. Oh, and on paying down the absolutely spectacular deficits that Bushinomics have left to us.

    But pointing out the consequences of Republican policies is class warfare. In a way that Republican policies aren’t. Because, you know, they like huntin’ and church. Or, at least some of them do.

  57. 57.

    grumpy realist

    I wonder how the Republicans think we’re supposed to pay for all that military hardware they have such a hard-on for.

    My own feeling has been: progressive taxes should be considered by the rich as insurance against revolutions and getting hanged from lampposts.

  58. 58.

    jcricket

    Here’s the entire Republican party platform:

    1) Cut taxes, cut regulations, cut social security, cut medicare

    2) Increase corporate welfare + defense spending

    3) Increase intrusion into your personal life (abortion restrictions, no gay marriage)

    4) Deny science (oppose global warming, talk about creationism)

    5) Non-whites please leave America (or at least shut-up and stop voting).

    1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 = Utopia!

    Glad I’ve got it all figured out. I can see the logic behind all of these. Well-sourced, lots of respectable academics show that these items will put us on the path to unicorns, ponies and unlimited wishes-come-true.

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