Letters: ‘Trickle-down economics’ still doesn’t work; Much missing from Thompson’s newsletter

‘Trickle-down economics’ still doesn’t work

A common false narrative, pushed by Republican politicians, is that reducing an employer’s income tax will lead to job creation. Not true.

The theory is that employers, upon learning that their tax liabilities are being reduced, will be so overjoyed that they will rush right out and hire a bunch of additional people.

Ain’t gonna happen.

Employers, altruistic as they might be, do not hire more people just because they can afford to. They hire more people when they need them to meet an increased demand for their products or services.

This erroneous theory, called “supply-side economics” or “trickle-down economics,” has been around for a long time, at least since the Reagan Administration (hence the alternative term “Reaganomics,” which George H. W. Bush called “voodoo economics”). It was repeated twice by the Bush-43 Administration and again by the Trump Administration. The historical data shows that the promised jobs creation never occurred in any of those four cases.

And there is no reason to expect it should have.

Of course the tax reductions left more after-tax profits in the business coffers. What did they do with the extra money? They increased dividends to shareholders and retired treasury stock, both of which enriched the investor class. They also, quite likely, returned some of it to the very politicians who provided them with the tax reduction in the first place, in the form of campaign contributions. (Could this have been the intent all along?)

But they did not create jobs.

Much missing from Thompson’s newsletter

Those of us living in central and northern Pennsylvania know our congressman, Glenn “GT” Thompson, to be a friendly, caring and decent person. But there is so much nonsense in his political analysis, policy stands and logic that he continually reminds us of how poorly we are served.

Look no further than Thompson’s recent weekly communication to his constituents. As a prime example, there isn’t one word in his Feb. 25 missive about the unlawful, unprovoked and Hitler-like invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Not one word, despite the fact that his “newsletter” went out more than two weeks after Putin began threatening an invasion, and days after Putin actually launched his tyrannical war.

Instead, his newsletter peculiarly argues that the IRS is not processing our refunds fast enough because Biden supports a “radical climate change agenda” that somehow weaponizes the IRS.

Most absurdly, he suggests that the U.S. effort to reestablish controls on nuclear arms development in Iran is an insult to Americans. His evidence? This wholly unrelated statement by Kamala Harris from a tweet from the White House’s virtual embassy for Iran:

“Racism exists in America. Xenophobia exists in America. Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, it all exists.”

That statement, which he implies he rejects, is his evidence that we are “sucking up to Iran’s leaders.”

GT’s illogical, nonsensical and partisan red-meat newsletter does more to inflame than inform — and strongly suggests to me that it’s past time we had a representative who thinks more clearly and who doesn’t simply regurgitate the latest blather that’s sent his way.

Inflation woes

The other day, a sunny one unusual for central PA at this time of year, I was taking a walk with my husband. We typically see few cars on our neighborhood route, so we felt safe walking in the road to avoid some still icy sidewalks. When we heard a vehicle behind us, we instinctively moved to the right. We were both surprised to see that the “car” we stepped aside for was a Hummer. I commented that I thought they stopped making those gas guzzlers. But since the Hummer was shiny and bright in the light of that lovely day I added, “Guess not.”

This morning while listening to the radio I heard a person being interviewed lament that inflation is costing him $100 to fill his gas tank. I thought of the undue hardship inflation might be inflicting on Hummer owners.

This is not to say that our current levels of inflation are not seriously affecting numbers of lower-income people and many families. Still, we need to ask for “context” when we are within earshot of those reciting their inflation woes.