Blackmailing the Truth

When something you’ve been touting for decades is proven wrong, what do you do? If you’re a Republican, you blackmail it away.

Thankfully, nothing on the internet goes away.

Ever.

And let that be a lesson to you kids out there: Post safely.

Enjoy…

 Method of governance within the Republ-O-Sphere:

- Lie

- Lies become beliefs

- Beliefs become facts

- Facts become policy

The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, Congress’s in-house policy research arm, published a report that proved tax cuts for the rich do not spur economic growth and simply makes the rich richer and the poor poorer. As if nobody knew that already. At least it’s nice to have irrefutable proof.

We all know the Republicans keep lying about this and insist that rich people keeping more money and then trickling on the rest of us is what works. Since this report blows the head clean off their lie like Dirty Harry’s .357 Magnum, Congressional Republicans pressured the CRS to remove and disavow the report. Since the CRS’s budget is controlled by Congress, well, of course they caved.

Instead of trying to prove the report is flawed and biased like they claim it to be, the Banana Republicans just made it go away. Because it isn’t flawed or biased. Just like the Labor Department’s report that there was higher-than-expected job growth in September wasn't flawed; just like the Tax Policy Center’s report that Romney’s tax plan would raise taxes on the middle class wasn't flawed. If you can’t refute it, then claim it’s wrong, try to discredit the facts found by objective, independent analysis that are counter to your interests. Unless you have the political blackmailing power to just make it go away. 

Luckily, before the report was removed, the New York Times downloaded a pdf copy onto their website. The report is all full of charts and high-falutin words an’ whutnot. But the conclusion is quite clear and the author of the report, Thomas L. Hungerford stands firmly by it (emphasis mine):

“The top income tax rates have changed considerably since the end of World War II. Throughout the late-1940s and 1950s, the top marginal tax rate was typically above 90%; today it is 35%. Additionally, the top capital gains tax rate was 25% in the 1950s and 1960s, 35% in the 1970s; today it is 15%. The average tax rate faced by the top 0.01% of taxpayers was above 40% until the mid-1980s; today it is below 25%. Tax rates affecting taxpayers at the top of the income distribution are currently at their lowest levels since the end of the second World War.

The results of the analysis suggest that changes over the past 65 years in the top marginal tax rate and the top capital gains tax rate do not appear correlated with economic growth. The reduction in the top tax rates appears to be uncorrelated with saving, investment, and productivity growth. The top tax rates appear to have little or no relation to the size of the economic pie.

However, the top tax rate reductions appear to be associated with the increasing concentration of income at the top of the income distribution. As measured by IRS data, the share of income accruing to the top 0.1% of U.S. families increased from 4.2% in 1945 to 12.3% by 2007 before falling to 9.2% due to the 2007-2009 recession. At the same time, the average tax rate paid by the top 0.1% fell from over 50% in 1945 to about 25% in 2009. Tax policy could have a relation to how the economic pie is sliced—lower top tax rates may be associated with greater income disparities.”

That’s right, Republican douchefucks, low taxes for rich people DO NOT grow the economy. They ONLY make rich people richer. Fuck you very much.

You motherfucking Fascists.

But then, quashing the truth when you disagree with it is now a standard Republican policy, as Rachel explains oh so well...

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

And just in case you are unaware of the strength of the impenetrable bubble the Republicans live in and how they perceive America to be, let’s compare how they THOUGHT the election would go and how it ACTUALLY went…

The next time I refer to the “Republ-O-Sphere,” the “ConservaDome,” the “Bubble” or any other visual that places Republicans within a sealed, self-news-generating environment, this is the vigorously protected delusion I’m talking about.

Here’s a very short article that drives this point home.

Daily KOS: More alternate reality, courtesy of right-wing punditry

And in case you want a more detailed article explaining the cause of the Bubble sickness...

Mother Jones: Conservative Media Lie To Conservatives Because That's What Conservatives Want

Good day.

Birdie likes bluegrass

Just watch it. Would I steer you wrong?