As I sit in front of my computer feelings of frustration seem to overwhelm me. That feeling of helplessness is nudging at my psyche. That hopelessness that wears you down and makes you feel as if nothing you say or do matters. I would have never thought in my lifetime that I would see the leaders of this country turn its’ back on the greatest generation ever….”The Baby Boomers.” Yet here I sit, with a blank stare on my face reading article after article on how the Congressional Supercommittee (6 democrats, 6 republicans) entrusted with eliminating $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit will do so on the backs of the elderly. Both sides have agreed to cut Social Security benefits by 3%. The most vulnerable citizens in our society will be forced to make lifestyle decisions that could include buying medicine instead of food. Yet nowhere in the conversation is there a mention of taxing Wall Street financial speculation. I think the hardest pill to swallow is that the very seniors they seek to cut to mediocrity have paid into this system their entire working adult lives.
According to Dean Baker…”The benefit cut is being justified by claiming that the current cost-of-living adjustment exceeds the true rate of inflation. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics index that measures the cost of living of the elderly indicates that the current adjustment understates the rate of inflation experienced by retirees. There should be no doubt, this is a proposal for cutting Social Security benefits; it has nothing to do with making the cost-of-living adjustments accurate.”
Nowhere in any proposal to cut the budget deficit, is there any mention of taxing Wall Street. Neither Democrat nor Republican on the supercommittee has made nary of a request to the Joint Taxing Committee (JTC) to consider taxing Wall Street financial speculations. You remember those risky investments that caused the housing bubble and the near collapse of our banking system. The European Commission is currently fine tuning details to enact a Financial Speculation Tax (FST). It is thought that such a tax in the United States would generate revenues between 0.2 – 0.3% of the gross domestic product (GDP), which translates to roughly $30 - $40 billion dollars annually, that’s just taxing stock. If we add options, futures, credit default swaps, and other derivative instruments into the mix we could raise 3 to 4 times more revenue. Yet not one member of the congressional supercommittee has proposed scoring such a bill with the Joint Tax Committee.
It’s no wonder the 99% want to Occupy Wall Street and that only 9% of the country has a favorable approval rating for both houses of congress. At one time I use to think the GOP was the enemy of the working class. I can no longer readily identify the enemy.
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