Trying Not to Call Those Who Lie to Us Liars

Tell them you don’t want your money back.  Tell them you believe in America, that America’s promise is a level playing field and that public education, infrastructure and not letting a child starve are investments in ourselves as a civilized society, that taxes are the price we pay for that civility.

Tell them what really irks you is when people who already have all the gifts they need to thrive in a complex world are given even more.  Tell them that Jesus never suggested cutting taxes for the luckiest few while cutting food assistance for the unfortunate many.  Tell them you see through their charade that they side with the middle class, that even the middle class needs a little help: student aid, schools, unemployment compensation, catastrophic health care, nursing care for our parents.

Ask them whatever happened to their mantra that the deficit matters and whether their crazy “tax reform” scheme is just a front for looting the treasury for the benefit of the plugged-in, privileged class.  Ask them why adding $500 billion per year – yes, per year – is good for the country all of a sudden, when for years they said we had to cut aid for the poor to reduce the deficit.

Remind them that Ronald Reagan made the claim that cutting taxes will generate economic growth and lead to more tax revenue.  Remind them that his promise was a lie.

Point out that George W. Bush revived the lie, tried the same thing and all it did was leave people behind and run up the deficit. Remind them that it didn’t work that time, either.

Have you heard about Kansas?  They tried the old trick of slashing government and cutting taxes and all it did was – you guessed it – run up the deficit.  Now they’re up the proverbial creek and they threw both paddles in. How many times can politicians make this same, tired claim before we call them liars?

So, we see through this stuff.  We know that the majority in Congress really doesn’t side with regular folks. We regular folks are just fodder for their cannons. But we aren’t as dumb as we apparently look.

Tell them.