Commentary: Tom Purcell - Save for a rainy day? No need
Tom Purcell
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When I grew up in the 1970s, my father taught my sisters and me to “always save for a rainy day.”
He was a child of the Depression, after all, one of the longest “rainy day” periods Americans have ever experienced.
In 2021, however, America’s new national mantra appears to be “borrow and spend like the sun will always shine.”
Our federal government has certainly been following that approach.
Sure, because the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns crushed the economy and raised enormous social costs, almost everyone agreed that emergency spending measures were necessary.
that is certainly not an idea the republicans would accept for one moment. you ve taken issue as many democrats v with the fact the tax cuts are permanent in the bill while the individual cuts expire in 2025. couldn t it encourage fwoitsz grow in the u.s.? funny that you ask that question. the answer is all of this is based, number one, on the so-called trickle-down economic theory, if you give huge taxi breaks to profitable corporations and to the rich, somehow that money is going to end up creating jobs and improving our economy. the truth is that the times we have done it under reagan and under bush ii with large tax breaks have gone to the wealthy have not brought about those results. in both instances they have seen the deficit raise very substantial
the idea you will be exactly like your sibling, i don t know how many siblings you guys have but i love, i love my brothers but we would not be the same type anything, right? when we have different views on things. we have approach things differently. just because you were raised in the same house or have the same last name does not mean look at bush i and bush ii. look how different they are. they were both in politics. how many times does he have to answer this question? that is a better answer. got to the point where he had to do this people aren t going to stop. why doesn t he come out say, my economic record is better than my brother s in florida? you don t want to do that to your sibling. that is interesting. you don t want to do that to your family member. i love her answer. almost like should have waited before running this time? [laughter]. but almost like calling the bush question, a gotcha question in a way. at some point, right? i think had its
look at that beautiful shot. time now for the must read opinion pages and joining us now is assistant managing editor from fortune magazine and author of the book end of the suburbs leigh gallagher, fortune s new issue lists the most powerful women in the corporate world. we re going to the event on wednesday. heading down there today. i ll see you there. we ll start with maureen dowd. she writes about a mad tea party and she writes how awful are ted cruz and his cruzettes? they have done the impossible. they have made americans look back at the bush ii era, the most reckless wrecking ball in american history. with relative nostalgia, with 78% of americans feeling blue about the country being on the wrong crack according to a new nbc news wall street journal poll they consider the gop s
i am not ashamed of american power. i m guided by one overwhelming conviction and passion. this century must be an american century. but who does romney think he s contrasting himself with? president obama made no bones about his belief in america s greatness as recently as yesterday. let s listen. if anyone tries to tell you our greatness has passed, that america is in decline, you tell them this. just like the 20th century, the 21th century is going to be another great american century. who is ashamed of american power, michael? who is this guy he s attacking in his speech before the guys who did serve in war? i think it s a matter of laying out very clearly and i thought he did an excellent job setting up the contrast. there are a lot of similarities in obama s policies with the bush administration. there s no doubt about that with