Test for Democrats: Here’s $700 Billion: Should We Gamble It on Wall Street or Invest in Mainstreet?

Litmus Test for Democrats: Here’s $700 Billion: Should We Gamble It on Wall Street or Invest in Mainstreet?
By: Scarecrow
August 19, 2010

From HuffPo’s Sam Stein, we learn of yet another foolish Democrat, this time Missouri Senate candidate, Robin Carnahan, who thinks we should extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, because "now is not a good time for raising taxes."

The cost to the Treasury of extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealth starts near $35 billion next year and explodes to nearly $700 billion over a decade. So the question for Democrats is simple: what do you want to happen to that $700 billion?

If you give it to the wealthiest Americans, who already have the vast majority of wealth in the US (and it’s getting worse), they won’t stick it in mattresses or some Cayman Islands bank account earning piddling interest, though they may try to hide it there and avoid even more taxes. No, they’ll send much of that $700 billion to Wall Street to gamble on making more money, asking their favorite bankster to place their bets on the latest expected bubble.

Or . . . you could let the tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans expire and use that money, or even a portion of it, to create jobs, reduce unemployment, rehire teachers/firemen/police, rebuild infrastructure and help those most in need, including the insecure elderly who lost much of their retirement savings when Wall Street and incompetent regulators destroyed $12-14 trillion in America’s housing and investment wealth.

So here’s the test for Democratic candidates: You have $700 billion. You can give it away to the richest Americans and have them gamble that on the next Wall Street scams, or you can invest some or all of it with the people on Main Street.

Wall Street casinos or Main Street jobs. The choice is really that simple. And any Democratic candidate that can’t explain and sell the right choice to voters shouldn’t be running for office.

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/66094

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/08/19/2161767/carnahan-bucks-party-to-support.html

though the article in the link indicates dems might just cave on letting cuts expire. dems, cave? nah

Msongs