Tavis Smiley: Debt Ceiling Agreement is a War on the Poor (VIDEO)
Talk show host Tavis Smiley appeared on CNN (with Professor Cornel West) and slammed the recent debt ceiling agreement, which includes yet-to-be determined cuts in social programs. Smiley and West recently launched 'The Poverty Tour' to raise awareness about poverty in America.
“I think this debt ceiling deal was really a declaration of war on the poor,” Smiley said. “The Congress and the president have declared war on the poor. You can’t sign into law legislation that raises the debt ceiling but opens up a crater in the floor.”
Smiley added, “Put another way, no unemployment extensions for poor people, no closing of a single corporate loophole, not one new tax on the rich and the lucky – so once again the corporations get off scot-free, Wall Street and the big banks get off scot-free, yet all these cuts aimed at the poor.”
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How does this "no closing of a single corporate loophole, not one new tax on the rich and the lucky" help the poor? If you really want to make a dent in poverty, there are things that can be done. Make it easier to open a business, remove stupid laws (for example: why is it illegal to scalp tickets? why is delivering letters locally considered "unfair competition" to the Post Office?), give small business loans to people who need them but have little money to start. Other things that would help: get rid of taxes on small businesses for the first five years of operation, tax only imports and exports, get rid of income tax altogether. The problem with giving the poor money (above a bare subsistance level) is that it removes their motivation to do better. So the first part allows people to do better, then motivate people to do better. Right now we have a problem of perspective, It costs the government about $40,000 a year per child to give care through welfare, ask yourself; "why can't I take a $40,000 deduction per person from my income tax?" The answer is very elegant; "It won't work that way." Government is broken, entrusting the poor to government care will never work the way it's planned.