Beyond all of the needless cruelty done to children, seniors, veterans, teachers and heroes currently serving in our military, perhaps the worst thing about the reverse Robin Hood Republican Tax Scam is the “big lie” that is the foundational predicate of why such enormous tax cuts for the 1 percent are necessary right now: jobs and investment growth.
Economists identify a concept called “natural unemployment,” which means that a predictable percentage of the labor force will always be unemployed because they are in a state of employment transition. Recent graduates are counted in the labor force (as are recent retirees) but may well not be seeking employment.
People may have lost their job to automation or a workforce shrinkage in their field, such as coal miners, and are retraining for a new occupation. Workers who are relocating might take some time before starting employment in their new locale. Someone might be on a sabbatical to care for an ill loved one, to travel, to write a book, or finish a dissertation. There are hundreds of reasons why a person might still be counted in the labor force but are not seeking employment.
Labor economists tell us that natural unemployment runs between 4.5 and 5.5 percent of the labor force, however, the current unemployment rate is 4.1 percent. Hence, if the Tax Scam creates millions of new jobs, from whence will the workers come to fill those jobs?
As to the investment claim: corporate profits and savings are at an all-time high, yet corporate investments in worker productivity enhancement and wage growth continue to be sluggish. But the “steal from the poor and give to the rich” crowd tells us that giving even more to corporations and the wealthy 1 percent will increase wages and productivity capital investment. The question begs, “Why?” Should not those current bulging profits and savings already be causing those wage and investment increases?
The only real justification for the Tax Scam is to make the rich richer and the poor and middle class poorer. I would appreciate it if they would just be honest and tell us that awful truth.
Tom DeBor
Poulsbo
