Should we be surprised by the Republicans' insistence on cutting taxes as a way out of this recession? Hardly. If they were a repertory company, their production would be called A Tax Cut for All Seasons.
Problem is, Republican tax-ax economics is, in the words of author Jonathan Chait, "The Big Con." In fact, that is the title of Chait's book, published in 2007. (Full title: The Big Con: The True Story of How Washington Got Hoodwinked and Hijacked by Crackpot Economics.)
Chait, who describes himself as "quite moderate," nevertheless offers this pointed critique of Republican economics: "American politics has been hijacked by a tiny coterie of right-wing economic extremists, some of them ideological zealots, others merely greedy, a few of them possibly insane." He says that ideas once considered laughable are now accepted as economic gospel by Republicans; and warns that while pundits have repeatedly written off the right wing, it has come back stronger every time.
There's more beneath the bottom line...
Read More