Alternate View

Mark Thoma gives Us another column by Paul Krugman. I have a problem with Paul, but it does not reside in what he says–which is quite true, but perhaps in the manner in which he says it. He states what the Bush Tax Cuts have accomplished, but he fails to describe how the sleight-of-hand was set up. The massive Tax Cuts to Business and the Wealthy was evident, though the nature of structured Tax Credits for Business was hidden. Business suddenly acquired the Tax haven of deductibility for the Benefits packages which they granted to Workers. Business gained the power to keep Dollars out of Workers’ Paychecks, while still reporting Labor Costs, needing only the expedient of Business-to-Business Transfers; such burdens less onerous by venue of investing in the Recipient agencies. Employee Wages became an guaranteed Investment opportunity of high Returns, with no one but Employees enduring any long-term duress.

The Above argument provides real substance to the Proposal of universal Health Care. Employees may learn someday that a national health plan is cheaper to pay for under Paycheck deductions, than is the current suppression of Wages by Business claims of Health Care provision. The same argument can also be made concerning Pension benefits. A Fair Share law where Management is entailed by law to supply Employees with an equal Percentage amount of Profits as enjoyed by Management would decrease the Demand for Downsizing and Productivity, so that there would be sufficient Help to achieve current Business goals. The tenor of the Workplace will harmonize to greater degree, with much less stress. Labor needs a Congressional Ombudsman which is conscious of the needs of Labor, free of the heavy Lobbyist money of the Corporations.

Trickle-Down economics will only evolve equitably only if Labor has a Voice and Hand involved in the control of the faucet. Letting Business set the agenda of Congress will only produce Advantage for Business. Unions no longer truly reflect Labor desires, basically because Union leadership attended the same MBA programs as did Business management. Labor probably will not achieve any gain until they demand to self-finance their Medical and Retirement programs through massive increases in Wages, which might lead both Congress and their Lobbyist friends to reconsider their current program of Tax reductions for the needy Businessmen. lgl