March 19, 2009

Trickle Down Economics Rebuttal

Since Meghan McCain recently became the new Ludwig Von Mises of the Republican Party, the Conservative / Libertarian base must work harder to articulate its values. No longer can we allow Democrats to repackage intellectually defunct dogmas of the past in order to appeal to the drones of society. Instead, we must arm ourselves against the Left, which is why over the next few weeks I will provide step-by-step refutations of Democratic Party debate tactics.
One common strawman argument routinely employed by the Left is to assert that, "Trickle-Down" economics was a failure. Barack Obama even used this polemic against John McCain in the most recent campaign without a persuasive rebuttal from the Maverick. The fact that Barack Obama's argument is so intellectually bankrupt makes it a travesty that few Republicans know how to respond to it.
Well, below I have outlined a guaranteed way to destroy any Democrat in a debate on this issue.
Step #1) When your Democratic friend tells you that "Trickle-Down" economics failed, ask your friend to quote one Republican politician in history who ran on "Trickle-Down" economics, or argued for an economic policy where wealth "Trickled-Down" from the rich to the poor;
Step #2) When your friend responds with "Ronald Reagan," ask again for a quote where Reagan ran on "Trickle-Down" economics. When your friend concedes that Reagan supported supply-side tax cuts and no Republican ever advocated "Trickle-Down" economics, proceed to Step #3;
Step #3) Your friend will now claim that supply-side tax cuts are the equivalent to "Trickle-Down" economics. Proceed by asking him to cite one business in the history of Capitalism where the owner takes his or her profits before the employee. Explain to your friend that all employees are a business expense, and therefore get paid before the owner makes a single penny. Moreover, this does not even guarantee that the owner makes a profit at all;
Step #4) Explain to your friend that all profits trickle up from the employees to the owner, and therefore large profits are simply evidence that all workers have received their agreed upon paycheck. The absence of, or decrease in, profits means that some workers are likely to get laid off;
Step #5) Then explain to your friend that since the bottom 40% of Americans pay zero income taxes because they get all their deductions back, it is impossible to give anyone other than "the rich" an income tax cut;
Step #6) Your friend at this point will argue that the bottom 40% pay payroll taxes, to which you respond that the Republican Party advocated a payroll tax holiday to get out of this economic crisis and the Democrats rejected that idea;
Step #7) After declaring victory, ask your friend why he supports the Party that is against profits and cutting payroll taxes?
For more economic rebuttals, read Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics 3rd Ed: A Common Sense Guide to the Economy

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