The debt deal is over. There is nothing we can do about that. Nothing. It’s a bad deal for an economy tipping precariously toward a rapid descent into a deeper recession and more unemployment. It has no stimulus in it at all, and the spending cuts it requires likely will result in less regulation by the EPA, FAA, FDA, SEC and other agencies who will see their budgets slashed. Too bad for us. Our side lost that fight.
But it is not too late to begin discussing what we should be doing next. What’s that you ask, Steven D? What can poor little us do? One very necessary thing: We Can Organize a Public Campaign to Build Support and for, and Pressure Congress and the President to, Let the Bush Tax Cuts Expire.
But aren’t they set to expire at the end of next year, Steven? Technically yes, but then they were supposed to expire at the end of 2010, too, and surprise, surprise, when push came to shove they were extended. We know as the sun rises in the East each day that the Republicans in the House will do something to pressure the President and Democrats to extend those tax cuts next year. It doesn’t matter that most people –72% in a recent poll — support increasing taxes to help bring down the deficits. The Republicans are emboldened by their success with the last two manufactured crises they created to force an unpopular agenda down our throats.
My guess is that sometime next Summer or Fall the GOP will pull a stunt to extend the Bush Tax Cuts, probably as a rider to any further spending cuts that are proposed by the debt deal commission, but maybe through some other bill. It doesn’t really matter what mechanism they will employ. We know it is coming. Preserving those favorable tax cuts for the well off, the people who have felt the least pain (and received the most gain) during the past two years, and indeed, giving the wealthy and large corporations even more tax cuts, is their prime objective.
That means we need to start now – today – to organize a campaign to paint the Republicans as villains that serve only the rich, the very people who must pay their fair share of taxes. A campaign that must include assistance and funding from organizations like Moveon, AARP, Stephen Colbert’s PAC, and anyone else you can think of.
We need video-graphers to prepare YouTube videos slamming the hypocrisy of the Republicans and the need for the wealthy to pay their fair share of taxes — videos all of us can promote and spread via social media (Facebook, Twitter, what have you) to help them go viral. Some of those videos can be funny, some serious, some educational, some hard hitting attacks against Republicans, and so forth. I don;lt do video nut I’ve seen some very effective ones from people like Robert Greenwald and others so I know we have the creative talent to get this done.
We need to recruit prominent spokespersons (especially wealth well-known individuals) to go on talk shows to speak out for raising their own taxes because they too want to sacrifice for the greater good of this country. Hollywood Celebrities, Sports Stars, Rock Stars (Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, Common, are you listening?) and other famous wealthy individuals (Warren Buffet, isn’t it time you became a patriot on this issue?) who will stand up against more tax cuts and make public appearances and advertisements we can run on television. People who will openly say this will hurt my pocketbook, but I can afford it and I want to help my country.
We also need to organize a letter writing campaign to Op-Ed pages of every newspaper in the country, and a Phone and fax campaign to our legislators in Congress and to president Obama that we oppose extending the Bush Tax Cuts ASAP. Heck, anyone can write a short op-ed piece or fax. All it has to say is that its way past time for the rich to sacrifice some of the gains they’ve enjoyed at our expense. Hell, those letters practically write themselves. Just cut and paste rants directly from some of the better writers here aor around the blogosphere if you have to. I’m sure they won’t mind.
We should also organize a door to door campaign to hand out literature and spread our message that the deficit can only be fixed if everyone sacrifices for the greater good, and that includes increasing taxes on the wealthy, who under our system usually pay far less of their income than the Middle Class. Literature that points out how well our economy and the Middle Class did in the past when taxes were higher under Bill Clinton. Literature and one on one conversations that explain that wealthy people haven’t used their tax cuts to create jobs here in America — exactly the opposite.
We mus appeal to the public’s emotions. Ask them: What has giving bailouts and tax benefits to rich people done for you? Make them angry. Why should the rich make out like bandits while everyone else suffers? Consider it a Get Out A Fuck The Rich Effort, if you like or GOAFTR, because we need to make people angry enough to want to “go after” the bastards who are using the Shock Doctrine to destroy the country for their benefit.
What should be our message? Well here’s a few ideas:
- Fairness: Everyone Should Sacrifice, not Just the Most Vulnerable
- Raising Taxes Helps the Economy: Lowers the Deficit Without Drastic Cuts to essential Services (bring up Clinton surpluses under the old tax rates)
- Where are the Jobs: More Jobs Created under Clinton when taxes were higher than after the Bush tax cuts went into effect.
- Even Reagan Raised Taxes.
- It’s Patriotic: The Wealthy and Corporations Should Pay More for Government Services that Benefit Them the Most
- No More Special Privileges for the [Rich, Oil Companies, Health Insurance Companies, Wall Street Bankers, Hedge Fund Managers — just fill in the blank.]
Maybe you can think of better messages. Maybe you have better ideas than I do as to how to create the organizations needed to lead this effort and raise the funds we to get it off the ground. In fact, I’m certain of it. I am not a community organizer. I don’t know a thing about raising money for a political campaign of this kind. I wouldn’t know how to recruit the people we need to lead this effort, or who would be the best spokespeople, or where to find the activists on the ground to write the letters and knock on the doors.
But I bet a lot of you do.
So that’s my idea. You say you’re fed up with a weak President who “capitulates” or you’re mad at Democrats in Congress who allow an unpopular faction to hold up them up for ransom, screwing the people they claim to support? Well, arguing about how bad or weak or corrupt or [insert epithet here] Obama and the Democratic party has shown itself to be is fine and dandy if all you want to do is vent. But when you’re done venting what does that get you? Do you really feel better? Has anything really useful been accomplished?
It’s practically become a cliche to mention this FDR quote, made when he spoke to a group of progressive reformers, but I’m going to bring it up again anyway because it’s true.
I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it.
The advantage we have in campaigning against extending the Bush tax cuts is that we are not asking people to say “Yes,” which can be a hard thing to do, but to say “No!” or even “Hell No!” Trust me, it’s a lot easier to get people to say no to something than yes. But we need to start now, because the Republicans are already planning what they are going to do to get those tax cuts extended, unpopular though they may be. We, collectively, waited too long to address the phony debt ceiling crisis, and we failed to stir up enough outrage to prevent what went down. Let’s not wait that long ever again.
And if all this sounds like too much bother or trouble, ask yourself these questions: If not now, when? If not me, who? Yeah, another cliche, but true too.
