News chunk 'n bits: Trickle down economics trickles up; The Biden impeachment

A WaPo opinion by Jennifer Rubin discusses the evidence that trickle down economics cause wealth to flow up to the top, increasing inequality:

‘Trickle-down economics’ is a scam that ignores decades of evidence

Like climate change denial, the claimed economic benefits of tax cuts for the rich don’t hold up under scrutiny. .... Republicans often reply: “But look at the growth and jobs!” Actually, we have seen a steady stream of evidence debunking this rationale.

Last July, NEC Director Lael Brainard laid out the overwhelming evidence that “trickle-down” economics — defined as “cutting taxes for big businesses and those at the top” — has been a bust.

“Economic inequality increased, many communities suffered from sustained disinvestment, and earnings growth for many Americans failed to keep pace with the cost of necessities like health care, housing, and education,” she said. “Investments in infrastructure and vital industries stagnated.”

This isn’t new evidence, either. A 2020 paper by David Hope of the London School of Economics and Julian Limberg of King’s College London examined “18 developed countries — from Australia to the United States — over a 50-year period from 1965 to 2015,” CBS News reported. “The study compared countries that passed tax cuts in a specific year, such as the U.S. in 1982 when President Ronald Reagan slashed taxes on the wealthy, with those that didn’t, and then examined their economic outcomes.” It turns out that “per capita gross domestic product and unemployment rates were nearly identical after five years in countries that slashed taxes on the rich and in those that didn’t, the study found.”

But there was one significant difference: “The incomes of the rich grew much faster in countries where tax rates were lowered. Instead of trickling down to the middle class, tax cuts for the rich may not accomplish much more than help the rich keep more of their riches and exacerbate income inequality, the research indicates.” Oops.

Well, what about the huge tax cuts passed by MAGA Republicans in 2017? Were those any different? “Mr. Trump’s tax cuts have lifted the fortunes of the ultra-rich,” the report found. “For the first time in a century, the 400 richest American families paid lower taxes in 2018 than people in the middle class, the economists found.”  

But economic growth made up for this handout, right?! Not so fast. Wages for average Americans did not keep up with the cost of living. Worse, “Even before the pandemic, income inequality had reached its highest point in 50 years, according to Census data,” as CBS News reported. And, before Biden came into office, income inequality worsened as the pandemic hurt the less-well-off more severely than it did the rich.

We all knew it, but a reminder is useful.

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The NYT reports that House TTKP (Trump Tyranny & Kleptocracy Party) elites are getting worried that they will never be able to impeach president Biden. Instead, they want to send a slew of criminal referrals to the DoJ against Joe and his family in a desperate move to save face and make it look like they are not being “political.” 

Mr. Armstrong said he believed criminal referrals were the much more likely outcome. Mr. Armstrong suggested House Republicans could make referrals regarding alleged violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act in connection with international business deals by Hunter Biden, the president’s son, and suggested that the Justice Department investigate accusations of obstruction.

“I’m still interested in why we haven’t gotten better answers on the whole-of-government approach to obstructing all of these investigations,” Mr. Armstrong said.

Given how jaw-droppingly incompetent and politically stupid Merrick Garland is, he will probably comply and start investigations so as not to look political. The disaster called the TTKP is un-effing believable. So is Garland. 

I still remember those 4 or 5 slam dunk obstruction of justice felonies that DJT committed to subvert the Mueller investigation. Garland still has not lifted a finger to prosecute America’s loud and proud Felon-in-Chief. Fire Garland. Lest we forget, here is a four felony obstruction analysis that Law Fare published in 2019:

And here is a five felony analysis by a different attorney:

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Crackpottery from Lindellandia: This is sort of about the 2020 stolen election lie, more or less. Raw Story reports that Mike Lindell backed away from showing the public explosive evidence that would shatter modern civilization and destroy everything, leaving Earth a lifeless ball of rock, microplastics and Teslas (Teslae?) with discharged battery packs:

“The Supreme Court case, the lawyers will be turning it in later on on Thursday,” Lindell said of his purported evidence. “We were going to do it right on-site at the Supreme Court, but they said, no, Mike, it's too risky.”

“It’s going to be too dangerous,” he added. “The evidence we’re going to put in this case has never been seen before. And the only reason we’re able to do it is because they kicked this case out on standing. Had they not done that, we wouldn’t be able to add this new evidence.”

“And it is so explosive.”

One might have realized from this blither that the nutter Lindell is well past bat guano crazy. Maybe people have to go to Lindell’s personal website, where they may or may not be asked to buy pillows, before they can see the explosive evidence. Maybe the evidence will cause people’s computers to explode. Who knows? One peanut in the gallery commented astutely: This guy is so full of shit his breath stinks!

Also note, that the USSC does not determine the actuality or legal relevance of evidence. That is the job of trial courts and discovery demands. American politics has officially hit ludicrous speed!

What ludicrous speed looks like

Direct threats from Christianlandia: 

“The government doesn’t make the law. The people rise up, power rises up from the people and the people make the law. And that law should be in accordance with God’s word and the conscience. And these federal laws are restricting both of those things. So when this authority – namely the federal government – commands what God has forbidden or has not required, second – whenever it forbids what God commands or has not forbidden, third – whenever it oversteps its constitutional jurisdiction, or fourth – binds the conscience that God alone has jurisdiction, we – those who are their authority – we are the authority for the federal government in this situation, we are not to obey them whenever they take tyrannical action.” – Christian nationalist Oklahoma state Sen. Dusty Deevers.

Notice the nonsense in Deevers’ deranged blither? The people make the law but God makes the law and those [mostly White males] who claim God’s authority are God’s authority, whatever that might be. Or something like that.

And that is all the politics fit to print. Hi yo Silver, ludicrous speed away!