The big lie

Republicans have successfully bamboozled the working class into believing that the Republicans represent their best interests. The truth is, Republicans make the working class the slaves of the department of revenue and corporate America. They aren't so much about small government, just small government in certain places.

They talk about tax breaks and they are serious. But those tax breaks benefit businesses, entrepreneurs and wealthier Americans. The working class, particularly income brackets as low as $20k up to $65k, pay the bulk of the taxes. When Bush issued his tax relief checks a few years ago, it was on the shoulders of the working class. They say their taxes go up, not down.

Now Democrats like to tax and spend as we all know. But Republicans do too. They just shift who they tax and where they spend. Don't be fooled by the cliche's. But what surprises me is how readily the working class feeds on the b.s. that the Republicans churn out about who is responsible for their hardships. They create emotionally charged non existent problems to drive poorly informed, over taxed working class adults to the polls to vote for Republicans who don't really represent their best interests.

It's remarkable, and if you like Republicans, even commendable. They are very good at getting out an "issue" around election time to rally the little people around. The Democrats are not very good at creating that kind of solidarity, which is why they are so hit and miss in elections.

On flip side, the Republican style tax breaks create incentives for entrepreneurial expansion, self employment, and innovation. The best place to be working is on a 1099, self employment. Why? The list is long but basically when you work on a w-2 as an employee, your tax breaks are very few. The money you spend related to working is spent after you pay taxes on your earnings. When you are self employed, many of your business expenses are subtracted from your profit before it gets taxed as is also true with corporations. So even though you pay more for social security tax as a self employed, your bottom line is usually better, even in the working class brackets.

The draw back is it can be a lot of work to keep track of your expenses. You have to know what you are doing or be willing to hire someone to help you with your business accounting, or else you can get in trouble with the IRS. When the government starts to close tax breaks for businesses, they do so for the ultra small businesses of the working class. Again, because they are the easiest to mislead at election time.

The solution isn't necessarily to condemn the rich for being rich or go after them with bigger tax bills. The rich are very good at finding places to stash their money to keep it out of the tax mans hands. The solution has more to do with convincing the rich to keep and spend their money at home, which is what Republicans want to do. There isn't a simple answer because the same people who have you working like a slave, paying taxes like a slave and are depriving you of basic assistance when you need it, are also the ones who are most able to create jobs, economic opportunities and wealth that makes everyone better. Such a conundrum.

Democrats are just too all over the map when it comes to pin pointing what their faults are. Some talk like communists about taking wealth away from the wealthy. I think the communists have demonstrated that to be a poor idea. But where they are on the mark is in providing basic assistance and services to the lower incomes and on health care. The republicans have you scared about health care that is if not run by government at least controlled by it. Again, there are profits to be held on to by this way of thinking. The current health care system, the so called free market system is failing and not for the simplistic, racists, classist reasons you have been told. It has to do with greed mostly.

The reality is this. It is cheaper for the government and tax payers and average citizens and the economy to have constant access to affordable or free, high quality health care, than it is to deprive people who can't afford to pay for it until they are so sick they qualify for government assistance. Disabling illness cost astronomically more to treat than routine healthcare.