MYTHS

Every so often I read or hear something said by a politician or political pundits that just sets my teeth on edge. Why? because I know that what is being said is not true. And I'm not talking about Presidential birth certificates or other such bull crap that is passed off as true in certain circles. No, I'm talking about things that are false on their face by real evidence or logical deduction. For example:

In an op/ed piece from our local, very right wing, newspaper a Republican Congressman and committee chairman expressed the thought that he didn't think that the American people wanted any higher taxes since that just took more money out of the economy. And there it is. The myth of the black hole of government taxation.

First, the obvious question should be, "Where does the money go?" I can't for the life of me figure that one out. Is there a super computer out in the desert somewhere that adds up all of the tax dollars that, because they've been collected, now must disappear from view. Of course given the government's fine record of efficiency I figure that super computer is a couple of Apple II's and a dial up modem.

This little myth, which has and is repeated regularly on the right, flies directly in the face of the other side of the conservative mantra; out of control government spending! What do these folks think is being spent? Let's see, the government taxes people and corporations, who are really just people too, haven't you heard, takes that money and hides it somewhere so that it is no longer in and usable in the regular economy and then, I guess, borrows money from China to spend on all of the worthless programs that the government over spends on. Or something like that. See what I mean. This whole concept fails a simple test of logic.

No, the government does not remove money from the economy when it collects taxes. It might remove money from your economy or from your businesses economy and that could certainly piss you off, but if you step back and look at the bigger picture it's clear that redistribution of money by the government may stick in your craw, it's what governments at all levels do.

We can clearly see that the Congressman's statement is false. Is this a deliberate lie on his part? I have no way of knowing. More troubling is the thought that he actually believes this nonsense. That would be the result of decades of ideology being endlessly repeated and never challenged by our dog whipped main stream media. They, the media, are so afraid of charges of bias from the right that they'ed find someone to express an opposing position after a guest states that the earth is round. What scares me is that this guy writes laws that I have to then follow. He doesn't know how the economy works. That's not a good mix.

Okay, that's all for now. Think about this a little, please. Myth number two coming up.