Jim Enright from Planet Boomerville had me on for a podcast about media bias and how to spot it.
It got me thinking that a lot of us might need warning signs.
You know, like your smart phone goes off to alert you. Too bad smart phones can’t detect media bias.
So, instead, on occasion here, I’ll post some of the best phony cable news beliefs that slip into stories or into questions that most people just take for granted.
Here’s one.
Giving a tax break to the wealthy creates jobs.
This is mostly pushed by Fox News and other right-wing organizations who have members of the investor class as viewers.
(Don’t worry you Fox lovers, I have a ton from MSNBC and the Bernie folk. Stay tuned. But I digress.)
No, tax breaks for the wealthy only put more money in the pockets of the wealthy.
Wealthy people are not creating new companies or jobs. We are an aging society. That means older people are saving money to retire and live out their years.
Also, technology is diminishing jobs or reducing salaries. Employers would rather buy new software than hire a new employee headache.
There was some truth to this simple formula in the 1960s, 1970s, and even the 1980s. But we don’t have that economy now. Even during the 1990s, Clinton increased some taxes to help balance the budget.
The only way tax cuts for the wealthy would work is if we had real tax reform (fat chance) where special interest groups lose their tax deductions that let them skirt higher taxes.
Let that sink in: special interests can exercise their free speech any way they want and then the government gives them a financial bonus.
A level playing field could help more middle class folks start their own businesses like Reagan did. But just tax breaks for the wealthy will give us more deficits and long-term debt.
What is also missing from our 1990s economy that was brought out in a great book called The Millionaire Next Door was the majority of new millionaires were first generation Americans; in other words, immigrants.
Oh the good old days.
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