Blog : The Dichotomy of Conservative Wishes

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10/26/2016 9:59 am

The Dichotomy of Conservative Wishes

A recent study released by non profit PRRI shows the dichotomy and resultant confusion of the typical republican today. The study showed 68% of republicans wish to return to the conditions that existed during the 1950's.

Let us consider, for a moment, what these republicans wish conditions today were like. During the 1950's the top income tax rate was 91%. (that was after President Eisenhower initiated a major tax cut from 92% ). Some would argue that marginal rates are not indicative of the actual tax rates of the time. However effective tax rates were actually 87%. The top tax rates today are 35%.

Corporate tax rates during the 1950"s were 50%. Corporate tax rates today are 35% with many large corporations skirting taxes by a variety of creative accounting methods. (for reference consider Donald Trump's 900 million loss and consequent non payment of taxes for 18 years)

The 1950's was time of stronger labor unions and more labor unions that have largely been decimated today by "right to work laws".

The USA GDP grew by 37% during the 1950's. Putting to lie republican claims that high taxes today are strangling GDP growth.

Median family purchasing power grew by 30% during the 1950's. The middle class was bolstered and families could purchase a home, live on a single worker's earnings, put through college and live the "American Dream".

All of the above bring into stark relief the discordance of what republicans want and their ongoing failures of trying to attain it.

What has changed from the 1950's? The first and foremost is the ongoing litany of republican tax cuts primarily favoring the wealthy. We can observe that republican supply side economics has failed on the basis of results. We can also ascertain that the demise of labor unions has been ruinous to middle class Americans. Right to work has translated to fewer workers and lower net wages.

We can see that reduction of corporate tax rates have not produced equivalent increases in earnings for workers to coincide with increased profits for corporations.

To be fair not all of this dichotomy lies at the feet of republicans. While free trade is a reality of today, fair trade has not always been a byproduct of trade agreements reached; often with attendant Democrat participation.

The 1950's were a time of strong growth of the middle class. However the growth was not obtained with low taxes benefiting the already wealthy. Nor did the middle class grow because of right to work laws. Strong GDP growth was not a byproduct of lower corporate tax rates.

One could factually state the republican wishes for what they consider a better time have been accompanied by measures that take them ever further away from their stated desires. Not only is the republican party of today fractured along a line between a populist with nothing in the way of identifiable policy and the vanguard of the old republican party trumpeting the failure of supply side economics and right to work but also fractured between what they say they want and an apparent failure of knowing how to attain it.