See, that's the problem right there. It's not something you can blame on both parties. There's no equivalency in this snafu.
The responsibility fall squarely on the Republican party. If they had thought of these ideas first, they'd probably grab at them. But today's Republican party is made up of not fully-formed beings. Hoping they'll opt for the best solution is like hoping your neighbor's spoiled, destructive six-year-old will quit tromping on your flower beds just because he enjoys watching you cry out in agony.
So here are a couple of the solutions to our economic problems. But, hey, I'm taking you to the cemetery to look at the marker on the grave here. I'm not showing you something you can get excited about. As lond as the Republicans have a majority anywhere, positive responses cannot be expected.
The suggested economic solutions come from economist Robert Franks who teaches at a business management school. He's not living in an ivory tower and he's not stupid. He already knows that "lobbyists and ideologues" will crush solutions to death just like that kid crushing the plants in the flowerbed.
Some in Congress have consistently opposed the president’s infrastructure proposals, citing the huge national debt. But that’s an incoherent objection. If repairs to the Capitol dome or a tattered stretch of interstate highway are postponed, they will just become more costly. Many job seekers have the skills for this work. If we wait, we’ll have to bid them away from other tasks. The required materials are cheaper now than they will ever be. And interest rates are at record lows. ...NYT
Wow! Seems obvious! But no. It would make at least some workers make happy and rich and Republicans either detest or don't give a damn about workers.
Try again.
A tax on any activity generates revenue and discourages people from pursuing that activity. Perversely, much of our current revenue comes from taxing useful activities.The payroll tax, for example, discourages job creation, and the income tax discourages saving and investment. By shifting taxes toward activities having harmful side effects, we can raise substantial revenue while expanding the economic pie.
Consider highway congestion. Because drivers can generally enter a congested highway without charge, they often do so — thus adding to the crowding. But many drivers would willingly pay a fee for using that road if it resulted in fewer delays. A modest congestion fee, administered with E-ZPass-style technology, would raise needed revenue and provide an incentive to use crowded roads only when the benefits outweigh the social costs.
Critics object that such fees would harm low-income households. But because the gains far exceed their price, we can redistribute them so that everyone comes out ahead. Some of the new revenue, for example, could support tax relief for low-income households. ...NYT
That'd work! That would work really nicely!
But we're so used to things not working and no way to dial Congress or the corporations (same thing, basically) to get a response that we might as well sit down again and cry in our beer.
Oh, sorry. Not beer. Can't afford it anymore. Believe me, I'd rather vote the entire Republican party out of business than deprive the entire brewing industry of its profits, but Americans For Prosperity (ha!) and their offspring -- True the Vote (ha!) -- are about to kill voting. Along with our prosperity and anything else that once made us feel good about being Americans.
