THE HILL
By Peter Schroeder – 11/29/10
A top House Republican is touting a flat tax as the future of the American tax system, and suggested the nation is balancing on a wall between free market ideals and “socialism.”
Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), chair of the House Republican Conference, advocated for a simpler tax structure in a speech Monday at the Detroit Economic Club.
“The time has come for Congress and this administration to take bold action to simplify our tax system and lower people’s taxes,” he said. “The best option, the most pro-growth option, is a flat tax. I believe it is time that America adopted a flat tax and scrapped the current system once and for all.”
Pence, who is thought to be contemplating a run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, juxtaposed America’s current position with what he saw during a trip to the Berlin Wall in the Cold War era.
“I saw the difference between East and West, between a free market economy and a planned economy run by the state. Freedom and personal responsibility contrasted with socialism and decline,” he said, according to prepared remarks. “The problem with our economy today is that, after years of runaway spending and growth of government under both political parties, America is on that wall between West and East. … I choose the West.”…
In this post, Representative Pence reveals what he learned during a trip to the Berlin Wall during the Cold War era. He said:
“I saw the difference between East and West, between a free market economy and a planned economy run by the state. …
… The Berlin Wall was officially referred to as the “Anti-Fascist Protection Wall” …
Perhaps one man’s “Anti-Fascism” is another man’s “Anti-Socialism”. The visit to the Berlin Wall had to be a moving experience for Mr. Pence. At the Wall, he said he saw the difference …
… between a free market economy and a planned economy run by the state …
There was no free market economy back then and there is no free market economy now. To get something approaching a free market economy, he would have to venture farther back in time than the early 60’s. one would have to venture back in time to when a bushel of “farmer Brown’s corn” was traded for two live chickens. There was no substantial government intervention during America’s very early years. At that time, America had the markings of a banana republic.
Once again let’s visit Wikipedia’s definition of Free market:
A free market is a market in which there is no economic intervention and regulation by the state, except to enforce private contracts and the ownership of property. It is the opposite of a controlled market, in which the state directly regulates how goods, services and labor may be used, priced, or distributed, rather than relying on the mechanism of private ownership. Advocates of a free market traditionally consider the term to imply that the means of production is under private, not state control as well. This is the contemporary use of the term “free market” by economists and in popular culture; the term has had other uses historically.
And a Free Market Economy:
A free-market economy is an economy where all markets within it are unregulated by any parties other than those players in the market.
Now we get to the good part.
Free-market economics is closely associated with laissez-faire economic philosophy.
And to show how similar the new neocon economics is to the old neocons’ economics we can revisit the website of George’s Bottom LINE to hear comments from former President George W. Bush:
“I Went Against My Free-Market Instincts”
That’s what former President Bush said today in explaining why he signed off on the bailout for Wall Street…calling the decision “one of the most difficult of his presidency.”
So, the new neocons and the old neocons have similar economic motivations. That may mean that America’s ombudsmen(voters) are giving the neocons another chance to wreck America’s economy. So far the GOP has only wrecked America’s economy TWICE. And while no other American political party can “boast” of that “accomplishment”, it may take “THREE STRIKES” before the neocons loose their turn at bat. But by then America may have lost the game.
America is 234 years old and has done nicely except when the GOP practiced its brand of economics on America’s treasury.
A fool and his country are soon parted.
[ The neocons and their right-wing cousins are now talking about a "flat tax". That is supposed to be new. It is a new way to say "tax cuts". There is even a more radical voice out there on America's taxes. It claims that taxes are illegal.
And if the state does not regulate labor - does that mean ten year olds could be forced into the labor market?
Where will the stupidity stop?]
Tags: berlin wall, east and west, flat tax, free market, free market economy, rep. pence, socialism
