Tax the Wealthy Like We Used To
ROBERT REICH in Robertreich.Substack.Com
The dire warnings of fiscal hawks are once again darkening the skies of official Washington, demanding that the $31 trillion federal debt be reduced and government spending curtailed (thereby giving cover to Republican efforts to hold America hostage by refusing to raise the debt ceiling).
It’s
always the same when Republicans take over a chamber of Congress or the
presidency. Horrors! The debt is out of control! Federal spending must be cut!
Not
only is the story false, but it leaves out the bigger and more important story
behind today’s federal debt: the switch by America’s wealthy over the last half
century from paying taxes to the government to lending
the government money.