Don’t buy the right-wing myth about Detroit

[El_Johns]

As mythology goes, the specific story being crafted about Detroit’s bankruptcy is truly biblical — more specifically, just like the fact-free mythology around the Greek financial collapse, it is copied right from the chapter in the conservative movement’s bible about how to distort crises for maximum political effect.

In the conservative telling of this particular parable, Detroit faces a fiscal emergency because high taxes supposedly drove a mass exodus from the city, and the supposedly unbridled greed of unions forced city leaders to make fiscally irresponsible pension promises to municipal employees. Written out of the tale is any serious analysis of macroeconomic shifts, international economic policy failures, the geography of recent recessions and unsustainable corporate welfare spending.

This is classic right-wing dogma — the kind that employs selective storytelling to use a tragic event as a means to radical ends. In this case, the ends are — big shocker! — three of the conservative movement’s larger long-term economic priorities: 1) preservation of job-killing trade policies 2) immunity for corporations and 3) justification for budget policies that continue to profligately subsidize the rich.

The bait-and-switch on the first two objectives is fairly easy to see...

That brings us to how this all plays into the right’s push to enact ever more regressive tax cuts, protect endless corporate welfare and legislate new reductions in workers’ guaranteed pensions.

These latter objectives may seem unrelated, but they all complement each other when presented in the most politically opportunistic way. It’s a straightforward conservative formula: the right blames state and municipal budget problems exclusively on public employees’ retirement benefits, often underfunding those public pensions for years. The money raided from those pension funds is then used to enact expensive tax cuts and corporate welfare programs. After years of robbing those pension funds to pay for such giveaways, a crisis inevitably hits, and workers’ pension benefits are blamed — and then slashed. Meanwhile, the massive tax cuts and corporate subsidies are preserved, because we are led to believe they had nothing to do with the crisis. Ultimately, the extra monies taken from retirees are then often plowed into even more tax cuts and more corporate subsidies.

We’ve seen this trick in states all over America lately. In Rhode Island, for instance, the state underfunded its public pensions for years, while giving away $356 million in a year in corporate subsidies (including an epically embarrassing $75 million to Curt Schilling). It then converted the pension system into a Wall Street boondoggle), all while preserving the subsidies...

From the right, Detroit is being cited in the discussion about budget shortfalls as proof of the need for austerity. Yet, we aren’t hearing much about why in the face of such shortfalls Snyder just devoted $1.7 billion to a new corporate tax cut that will likely exacerbate the state’s deficit, nor are we hearing much about why state law compelled Detroit to forfeit other desperately needed tax revenues. Again, the goal here is to make sure that the conversation is one that only is about cutting retirement benefits — not one that adds the prospect of progressive tax reform to the debate.

http://www.salon.com/2013/07/23/dont_buy_the_right_wing_myth_about_detroit/

[Smarmie Doofus]

1. Rec. n/t

[arthritisR_US]

2. Thank you and I copied your post into my IPhone

Last edited Fri Dec 20, 2013, 07:21 AM - Edit history (1)

notes to have when certain right wing family members inundate me. Hope that's ok?

[El_Johns]

6. Sure, it's OK. Hope it's a help.

[arthritisR_US]

8. I know it will and again, thanks! :) nt

[Bigmack]

3. Even Forbes....

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johntamny/2013/07/21/the-unions-didnt-bankrupt-detroit-but-great-american-cars-did/

[Populist_Prole]

4. Definite K&R and a great reference too

[JDPriestly]

5. And in the South, states and municipalities are giving big tax breaks to companies that

traditionally manufactured in the North or West in order to attract industry. Of course, they are tough on unions too, so the companies can expect to pay low wages without problems.

They will learn what the states and cities of the North and West have learned or are learning: manufacturing brings with it a lot of infrastructure costs. These include good public schools, responsive law enforcement, fire departments, transportation including roads, rails and airports and good medical facilities. And somebody has to pay for those things. If you aren't getting tax revenue from the companies that manufacture in your area, where will you get it from?

The taxes are higher in the North and West because the cost of keeping big business happy and prosperous is high no matter where it is. And government is one of the biggest costs. Successful manufacturing is a very costly endeavor for states and cities.

[Enthusiast]

7. Recommended 1000X and kicked too.

The right wing media is pushing this false Detroit narrative, this mythology.

[El_Johns]

9. Yes.