Forum Post: Middle Class: Don't Be Fooled by Debt Problems

The drum beat is to cut social programs because of high government debt. Yes, runaway government spending has caused this, but it is not because of social programs like they want you to think.

The truth of the matter is that the social programs did not cause the debt. What caused the debt? 1) instituting two wars on a credit card; 2) Medicare Part D giveaway to big drug companies; 3) unpaid for massive tax cuts for the wealthy (highest marginal tax rate has dropped from 90% in 1950's to Bush's tax cuts dropping it to a meager 36% with no matching cuts in programs); 4) Bush dropped tax on wall street profits to a meager 12%; 5) a recession and loss of tax revenues caused by our government's deregulation of the banks and failure to regulate Wall Street; 6) Bush's Tarp bail out of the banks and the bailout of the auto industry; and 7) a stimulus plan that has only staved off worse problems but not solved any.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says that the breakdown is that our deficit is caused 40% by Bush's policies, 20% by loss of revenue from the economic downturn, 16% by Obama's policies, and 12% by financial rescue policies started by Bush and continued by Obama.

The problem is that there Washington no longer represents the people, it only represents the special interests and because of that, the social programs that benefit the people will be the ones that will be cut. Both parties are talking about cutting social programs even though the social program spending was not what caused the deficit. Both parties that created this mess and have allowed Wall Street get get off without paying any price for causing this mess.

Yes, we have a deficit problem and no social programs should not be cut to deal with it. Raise taxes on the top 10% who now control over 70% of our entire nation's wealth. Reinstate a high marginal income tax rate so that corporations will stop paying out all of the profit to the few at the top and will start paying higher wages to employees. Get rid of 1980's laws stating that executives' only duty is to maximize shareholder profit and reinstate duties to employees and society balanced against duty to maximize shareholder profit. Putting higher wages in the hands of the middle class will increase tax revenues and reduce the deficit. Tax wall street gambling profits at a higher rate (at least the same rate as income). Stop engaging in wars with a credit card -- you need to raise taxes to pay for wars so that people can decide at the time if it is really worth it.