New York Times' columnist Paul Krugman wrote on Friday that the current field of Republican candidates are presenting the nation with tax plans that present a wealth of alternatives, from "huge cuts on the wealthy while blowing up the deficit" to "huge cuts on the wealthy while blowing up the deficit."
He acknowledges that Donald Trump's plan would blow "an even bigger hole in the budget than Jeb's," but the reality is that they are all offering variations on the same voodooistic theme -- an economically indefensible desire to cut taxing on the rich. The only experts who defend such plans are "on the payroll of right-wing pressure groups (and have an interesting habit of getting their numbers wrong)."
They proffer these plans not for the benefit of the American people, Krugman wrote, but because
Republicans support big tax cuts for the wealthy because that’s what wealthy donors want. No doubt most of those donors have managed to convince themselves that what’s good for them is good for America. But at root it’s about rich people supporting politicians who will make them richer. Everything else is just rationalization.
Of course, once the Republicans settle on a nominee, an army of hired guns will be mobilized to obscure this stark truth. We’ll see claims that it’s really a middle-class tax cut, that it will too do great things for economic growth, and look over there — emails! And given the conventions of he-said-she-said journalism, this campaign of obfuscation may work.
But never forget that what it’s really about is top-down class warfare. That may sound simplistic, but it’s the way the world works.
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