Austerity, Imposed From the Top To Bottom: The ‘Fix the Debt’ Spin

Some information and analysis follows, as we continue considering the DC created “fiscal cliff” (for example, see Fiscal Cliff & Shared Sacrifice: If You Build It, They Will Come), the debt/deficit, austerity, shared sacrifice, and all the other spins, going on for decades, on why the tiny number of people at the very top deserve to get whatever they want. I still think Occupy has it right, in a big picture way: it’s about income inequality, and the difficult-to-devastating consequences in the lives of the 99%. And it’s about a government largely controlled by those at the top.

Shared sacrifice, the DC-designed “fiscal cliff,” whatever the latest spin – it’s imposed from that “top” to the “bottom” dwellers. We’re simply in the “it’s a big news story” moment of yet another spin on the same old story. But hey, it’s got more people talking again, so that’s worth something. Unless, of course, we simply rehash the same provided-for-our-consumption talking points.

At Fix the Debt you can read all about this familiar talking point as the driving force for all financial decisions. Founded by Erksine Bowles and Al Simpson, chaired by Judd Gregg and Ed Rendell, with the CEO Fiscal Leadership Council including Lloyd Blankfein (Goldman, Sachs & Co.); David Cote (Honeywell); Jamie Dimon (JPMorgan Chase) … with that kind of leadership, the debt is surely as good as fixed.

From the About section:

The Campaign to Fix the Debt is a non-partisan movement to put America on a better fiscal and economic path. We come together from a variety of social, economic and political perspectives, around the common belief that America’s growing federal debt threatens our future and that we must address it.

CEOs of major corporations, they make efforts at the common touch. Yesterday, for example, they begin Debt, Growth, and the Fiscal Cliff Myths with: (emphasis added)

Hi folks! Welcome back from the Thanksgiving holiday!

So … how do we reduce the debt, encourage growth, and protect the most vulnerable better than would be achieved by going over the fiscal cliff? This is what Fix the Debt has aimed to achieve since day 1.

Some would have you believe that Fix the Debt is a front for rich guys who don’t want the cliff to take effect. …

We want to challenge this assertion head on, right here.

At HuffPo, that overall “assertion” by Fix the Debt is itself challenged. (emphasis added)

CEO Council Demands Cuts To Poor, Elderly While Reaping Billions In Government Contracts, Tax Breaks …

The CEOs are part of a campaign run by the Peter Peterson-backed Center for a Responsible Federal Budget, which plans to spend at least $30 million pushing for a deficit reduction deal in the lame-duck session and beyond.

During the past few days, CEOs belonging to what the campaign calls its CEO Fiscal Leadership Council … have barnstormed the media, making the case that the only way to cut the deficit is to severely scale back social safety-net programs … .

As part of their push, they are advocating a ‘territorial tax system’ that would exempt their companies’ foreign profits from taxation, netting them about $134 billion in tax savings … .

Yet the CEOs are not offering to forgo federal money or pay a higher tax rate, on their personal income or corporate profits. Instead, council recommendations include cutting ‘entitlement’ programs, as well as what they call ‘low-priority spending.’

For a bit of big picture context, from 24/7 Wall St., The 12 Companies Paying Americans the Least. These companies fall into two categories: large restaurant chains and large retailers. Working our way down to the worst: J.C. Penney; Darden Restaurants; Wendy’s; Macy’s; DineEquity; Starbucks; Burger King; Sears; Target; McDonald’s; Yum! Brands; Walmart.

And from Common Dreams, Ten Numbers the Rich Would Like Fudged: (emphasis added)

The numbers reveal the deadening effects of inequality in our country, and confirm that tax avoidance, rather than a lack of middle-class initiative, is the cause. …

1. Only THREE PERCENT of the very rich are entrepreneurs. …
2. Only FOUR OUT OF 150 countries have more wealth inequality than us. …
3. An amount equal to ONE-HALF the GDP is held untaxed overseas by rich Americans. …
4. Corporations stopped paying HALF OF THEIR TAXES after the recession. …
5. Just TEN Americans made a total of FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS in one year. …
6. Tax deductions for the rich could pay off 100 PERCENT of the deficit. …
7. The average single black or Hispanic woman has about $100 IN NET WORTH. …
8. Elderly and disabled food stamp recipients get $4.30 A DAY FOR FOOD. …
9. Young adults have lost TWO-THIRDS OF THEIR NET WORTH since 1984. …
10. The American public paid about FOUR TRILLION DOLLARS to bail out the banks.

By the way, if the “Hi folks!” approach of Fix the Debt made you feel all warm and fuzzy, you can go to Treasury Direct.gov and make a gift to reduce the debt held by the public. There are two ways to do that:

You can make a contribution online either by credit card, checking or savings account at Pay.gov

You can write a check payable to the Bureau of the Public Debt … .

Whatever the spin – fiscal cliff, austerity, debt / deficit, shared sacrifice – it’s presented to us with the understanding from above that their “fix” is already in. That can be challenged, of course. Some of have been at such efforts for a long time. If the current renewed and broader interest results in more people challenging the Top to Bottom impositions, and addressing real problems, that will be a gain.

(Bar Code Flag via Occupii)

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