*** “The necessities of life occasion the great expenses of the poor. They find it difficult to get food, and the central part of their little revenue is spent in getting it. The luxuries and vanities of life occasion the principal expenses of the rich… It is not very unreasonable that the rich should contribute to the public expenses, not only in proportion t their revenue, but something more in that proportion.” ] Adam Smith – yes, THAT. Adam Smith !!!!! ]
This post presents excerpts from “Our supercharged budget deficits are unsustainable”. [Bloomberg Opinion; 8/16/26]. Read this, paragraph by paragraph, THINK, this is a point-by-point, FACTUAL, indictment of the Trump and Republican economic plan. It partially describes WHY. YOU. feel economic pain now; tells YOU much worse is to come. Much of this is very simple. – we are. NOT. taxing the upper 1-5% as Adam smith said we should 250 years ago. The American national debt. EXPLODED. post-1980. WHY? See Reagan, Bush, Trump tax cuts for the OBSCENELY rich – read the NUMBERS, 1947-80 versus 1981-2026 – the top “marginal” bracket WAS about 81%. Reagan cut that in half, Bush cut some more, Trump cut some more. IRS leaders testified “we” are. NOT. collecting $1 trillion in COLLECTIBLE taxes EVERY year!!!!! . See Republican cuts to IRS enforcement!!! These missing tax dollars are NOT from Mr. and Mrs. Joe Lunchpail – they ARE from Mr. and Mrs. Percy Bigbucks. We can have this same conversation about the financing of Social Security and Medicare.
1] “Over the last two years, this Congress has worsened the nation’s fiscal trajectory dramatically. its main accomplishment, last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act [OBBBA], will by itself increase deficit spending by at least $4.1 trillion from 2025 to 2034. Add another trillion or so once many of the law’s “temporary” tax cuts are inevitably extended, and the U.S. will soon be looking at annual deficits approaching $3 trillion and a debt-to-GDP ratio exceeding post-war highs.” [ Bloomberg Opinion; 8/16/26 ]
2]. “Making matters worse, lawmakers have twice slashed Internal Revenue Service funding, by a total of about $32 billion Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office imply that each dollar these measures rescinded from tax enforcement could lead to about $3.27 in lost revenue, meaning they’ll actually add about $73 billion in net deficits. A huge reduction in the agency’s workforce hardly helped.” [NOTE: how many profitable businesses would operate this way – actively working to reduce their own profits!!!!!!!!]
***. “I need to pay higher taxes. I’ve paid, in absolute, more taxes over ten billion [dollars], than anyone else, but you know, the government should require people in my position to pay significantly higher taxes.” [ Bill Gates ]
3]. “Although the OBBBA’s backers touted some $900 billion in Medicaid savings, achieved largely by slashing coverage, this merely slowed the program’s annual growth rate and was dwarfed by the bill’s tax cuts. A rescissions bill also cut overseas aid and public broadcasting funding – at significant cost to national prestige and soft power – saving a grand total of $9 billion through 2035. Even these meager efforts have been partly negated by repeated splurges.” [NOTE: another example of Republican/Trump Scrooge- like greed and incredible STUPIDITY.]
4] “In addition to the tax cuts, the Secure America Act enacted in June included about $70 billion in duplicative funding for immigration enforcement and border security. This latest bill, as passed by the House, would add some $73 billion to pay for the war in Iran, among other things; a $12 billion bailout for farmers harmed by the administration’s trade policies; and $10 billion for dubious “election security” measures. [The Senate’s stalled blueprint would double the latter amount.]. [NOTE: read this sentence by sentence – so the Trump/Republican STUPIDITY, and INCOMPETENCE sinks in. Farmers have said repeatedly; they don’t want bailouts – they want stable markets.]
*** “…there is absolutely nothing to be said for government by plutocracy, for government by men very powerful in certain lines and gifted with the ‘money touch,’ but with ideals which in their essence are merely those of so many glorified pawnbrokers.” [ Theodore Roosevelt; Republican; 26th U.S. President ]
5] “For its part, the White House has worsened this picture at almost every turn. Its immigration crackdown alone could increase deficits by $500 billion over a decade. Its Department of Government Efficiency, created to cut spending, may have done the exact opposite: Its claimed savings have been largely illusory while one analysis found that costs it imposed – from lost productivity and chaotic personnel decisions. – may have reached $135 billion last year.”
6]. “Perhaps most egregiously, Congress has sat by as the White House has imposed a global tariff regime, at an annual cost of $900 or so per household. It’s true that tariffs raise revenue. Yet they do so in a way that’s uniquely misguided: They tax a base that erodes over time while impeding the investment and productivity growth needed to stabilize debt in the long term. For all that, they might yield $2.1 trillion over 10 years. – or less than 9% of projected deficits.” [NOTE: but Donald John Trump absolutely LOVES tariffs – and he owns the U.S. government, so ‘we” must have tariffs]
[NOTE; this writer lived during the 1947-73 U.s. middle class [STATISTICAL] age. those of you younger have NO CLUE what America was like then: a mixed blue and white collar society where most people made enough to get by and enjoy life. Think in terms of. THEFT. What we had then has been DELIBERATELY. DESTROYED. by the rich. To BEGIN to understand the FACTS behind this, read Kurt Andersen’s “Evil Geniuses,” read Jacob Hacker and Paul Pierson’s. “American Amnesia,” read Donald Barlett and James Steele’s “The Betrayal of the American Dream,” read David Cay Johnston’s “Free Lunch. How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense [And stick You With the Bill]”. Continue to elect Republican con men like Donald John Trump and the current Republicans. – and, you’ll get more of this theft, greed, and misery.]
With Justice For All 