Is "trickle-down economics" now totally discredited ?

[kentuck]

Is that the one positive that will come from the Bush Administration? Or will the revenues grow enough in the next four years to keep this alive for the future? We thought it was dead after the Repubs had their "trickle-down" policies in the 1920's - just prior to the Great Depression. But Ronald Reagan brought it back in vogue and George W Bush hitched his wagon to it. But we sit here today with deficits of more $half-trillion dollars per year when SS is factored in. Will we grow out of this mess or will it be discredited?

[shoelace414]

1. you have to discredit it.

"It has been proven that trickle down economics don't work"

[madinmaryland]

2. Aren't we living "trickle-down" economics now?

All the wealth rrepubs are getting richer and they are letting their dimes trickle down like Rockefeller did.

:mad:

[4morewars]

3. It works !!!!

For the rich folks, it's a great thing. For the other 98% of us, it's a fuckin disaster.

[wtmusic]

4. Of course not

It's really "trickle-down blame"--as the deficit grows larger the mantra is "it just takes time". Meanwhile, rich people get richer, the poor get poorer, and when the "time" comes, there's already another excuse in place.

Trickle-down = Santa. You gotta want to believe.

[sam sarrha]

5. the system is still dripping shit on the poor.as it was intended..it works

[MatrixEscape]

6. Of course it is working ...

The wealthy piss, it trickles down on the rest of us. What more proof would you need? Piss tends to be yellow, gold is yellow, therefore by Freeper logic, they are the same.

[JHB]

7. Discrediting is irrelevant for the non-"reality-based".

The people who support it DON'T CARE whether it works or not, they just mouth it because it provides an "objective" cover for doing what they want to do no matter what: ensuring they're the top rats on a sinking ship.

[underpants]

8. As Krugman wrote "Supply siders" are useful idiots

I can't find that op/ed piece now but basically Paul Krugman pointed out that 'supply siders' (trickle down) are just useful idiots for the starve the beasters-drain all the money and therefore influence/power out of government-and that only the naive really believe in trickle down economics.

[OnionPatch]

9. Anyone who believes trickle-down helps anyone

besides the rich is delusional. All you have to do is look at how things were during Reagan (the king of the trickle-down theory), then see how much better they were during Clinton, and now, back to trickle-down again.
What it means is "We get the cake, you get the crumbs!" (And you should be damn happy to get them!)
I sent off a suggestion for a bumper sticker to one of my favorite sticker sites and they made it. It says:
Screw This!! Let's try the trickle-UP theory for awhile!

[Fleshdancer]

10. I don't think the laws of gravity apply to economics

I think daddy Bush was right, this is nothing more than voodoo economics. :)

[charlie]

11. I think the argument will be

that yes, trickle-down is good, if it were ever tried -- kinda like the way some regard communism. Or maybe they'll just give it a new name, Middle Class Enrichment, and declare it a whole new animal.

We're about to get a big honking dose, whatever they want to call it. In the coming tax overhaul, Bush has been talking about drastically reducing or eliminating taxes on capital gains. The only deductions he's mentioned an interest in preserving are mortgage and charitable. And Repubs are yammering about dropping state tax deductions (read: fuck the blue states) to make up the difference.

Oh, and Bush also wants to kill business deductions for employer-sponsored health care.

They don't even try to hide their evilness anymore.

[Doctor_J]

12. everywhere except where it counts

BIG MEDIA loves it. The media whores and those who buy the WH line they spew think it's great. Everyone else realizes what a crock it is.

[ramapo]

13. Not yet

People still believe that they can get something for nothing, buy more than they earn, get more services than they pay for.

Voters enthusiastically endorsed Delusional Economics in 1984, 1988, and 2004. Many voted for it in 2000 also.

We grew out of the mess during the '90s due to the technology boom. Unfortunately the tech boom has been sent offshore.

There's no new thing to spur the economy. To offset this unpleasant fact, the US has taken to manufacturing dollars, each one worth a bit less than the one preceding it.

[Fifth of Five]

14. As they say,

There are two ways to feed the birds - you can give the grain to the birds, or to the horses.