In the trash economy, they even pay you for picking up trash. You get fully state benefits, medical, and retirement. All you have to do is vote! The state will give you all you need to live in one handy-dandy, little white-plastic shopping bag.
It’s all about the taxes. Without a balanced approach, states are left with serious problems economically to provide needed state services. Seems the Republicans are buying power to budget cut their states at the benefit of big business by lower corporate taxation. But there are serious consequences to this new right wing movement, and that is the cut of education and government services.
You see the logic used by these politicians was that if you cut the cost of government, people will be awarded with more jobs and less of a tax burden, but the tax burden was only lifted really for the businesses in those states. Were they afraid that businesses might move out of state to build plants and operations overseas, or even worst place their corporate headquarters under shell companies on remote islands and in places like Panama, so as not to pay any state or federal taxes at all.
The problem here is that American governance has been sold by power hungry politicians to those with the money, big money, especially Wall Street banks and investment banks.
States where the governments have been taken over by republicans are in the worst shape – and remember we aren’t yet even discussing federal level politics, though that is also a huge problem. But the states are in sorry shape with the mantra of “Cut Government Spending” has actually taken place, where prisons have been emptied, education budgets halved and all sorts of services have been trimmed. So who is going to pick up your trash, keep your water clean, your roads fixed, teach your kids, and incarcerate your drug addicts and sellers?
The combination of corporate America taking its work out of the control to improve the bottom line and the trashing of governance and public services has really screwed up states. Tax revenues are down. Stagnation has occurred. The reduction in revenues has impact what states and local governments are willing to pay people as well. In one state no one will work at the community centers because they can make more money working elsewhere. And who really wants to be a prison guard after all for so little pay?
Whacked by our politicians
How whacked is it? Think about it. If the jobs are in the public sector and not the private sector, than the money generation for state taxes is taxing those who work for the state – smells like socialism. We are a socialist country already, as the government already controls too much. And the real problem is that that government officials are not beholden to the people, but to those who finance their campaigns, and who pay them to pass legislation, or to pull old legislation. Do you remember the Glass-Steagall Act?
Glass-Steagall Act
Remember or learn that BACK IN 1999, Democrats led by President Bill Clinton and Republicans led by Sen. Phil Gramm joined forces to repeal Glass-Steagall at the behest of the big banks. Yes, the big banks wanted to make more money by handling investments. When they earn more money, no new jobs are created, only more money enters the hands of their companies, their shareholders and consequently the rich get richer and nothing improves for the poor. The original reason for the Glass Steagall Act was to protect the country from the conflict of interest between investment and banking which caused the great depression in part. The great serpent, that lying beast, the economic devil in disguise of glad tidings raised its head back at the Bush administration bailouts.
Another reason things went south was by letting rich people and corporations hide their profits in shell companies. That should be illegal. Those con men selling that to the American people need to go to prison. Also tariffs need to be place on foreign produced goods, so that manufacturing is driven back to American shores and so that real jobs are created for people to work at, and where they can get off government subsidies and aid. Just think about how many other panama type exposures could happen to reveal how much of America wealthiest hide their money!
The politicians have made their masters very happy, and they have gotten fat and rich, but they have devastated their local state economies, gutted state education and ruined state employees’ benefits and pay. Educators need resources, people need education, and innovation comes from education, not in tax shelters, tax breaks and incentives to invest in the infrastructures of other countries. Again the rich benefit, and they PAY THEIR FAVORITE POLITICIANS to keep it that way. Just how the 2016 election is paid for by Wall Street.
Look at the following examples to see how screwed up state economies have gotten:
Misssissippi:
“County officials across Mississippi are warning of job losses and deep deficits as local jails are being deprived of the state inmates needed to keep them afloat. The culprit, say local officials, is state government and private prisons, which are looking to boost their own revenue as sentencing and drug-policy reforms are sending fewer bodies into the correctional system.”
Response; why should the local economy be tied to the working in prisons and drug law enforcement efforts. This is madness. Economies should not be derived from the business of government. Read the article about how screwed up Mississippi is here.
Kansas:
“The bulk of Brownback’s tax moves in 2012 and 2013 revolved around state income tax rates for individuals. Those cuts, which primarily benefited those already wealthy enough to shoulder a greater share of the cost of schools and roads in Kansas, are politically untouchable even in the current calamity. But Brownback’s other signature move has lost the support of several of his fellow Republicans and will likely be at the epicenter of any budget deal lawmakers ultimately achieve.”
Response: another case of cut taxes for the rich, and lose state services like education. Who needs an educated population? Voters need to be stupid to vote for republicans who slice the education budget in half. Who needs trained engineers, nurses, scientists, doctors, civil servants and academics?
Final Thoughts:
What has destroyed state economies is the same thing that has created the Wal Mart American society, the trash economy. What has depleted the Middle class, made the poor dependent on Uncle Sam, and ruined the livelihood of regular Americans, is that the government is now in charge of ensuring the rich get richer. Without productive jobs to go to, everyone can only afford to buy cheap foreign made goods. The quality of American life, the American dream in is glory, is fading. This is the Trash Economy. Relying on jobs in the public sector where half the country, especially the darker colored ones, is the only economical solution, is bizarre at best. What has to be fixed is how we earn our money. The rich need to have rules that apply to them. Throw out congress and elect people who will change the rules on how profits are made, close the tax shelters. Bring the jobs home, and make it unprofitable for companies to take their work overseas.
Articles referred to in this blog piece
http://www.thenation.com/article/what-happens-when-republicans-try-destroy-public-education/
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/secret-and-lies-of-the-bailout-20130104
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-03-25/what-s-destroying-middle-class-wages-china
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