Comments on: San Diego, the GOP, and Faith-Based Economics: Why We Ought Not Let the GOP “Reform” Social Security. http://clamormagazine.org/blog/archives/san-diego-the-gop-and-faith-based-economics-why-we-ought-not-let-the-gop-reform-social-security/ the official blog of Clamor Magazine. Fri, 21 Nov 2008 04:04:25 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.3 By: adelina http://clamormagazine.org/blog/archives/san-diego-the-gop-and-faith-based-economics-why-we-ought-not-let-the-gop-reform-social-security/#comment-111 adelina Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000 http://clamormagazine.org/blog/archives/san-diego-the-gop-and-faith-based-economics-why-we-ought-not-let-the-gop-reform-social-security/#comment-111 This is just a city-level example of the 'starving the beast' ideology that the GOP hopes to exact on federal, state and local governments. By shrinking tax revenues, legislatures are forced to reduce government services and programs. Legislators avoid backlash at the ballot box by cutting taxes long before they sacrifice cherished public programs. While draconian cuts to critical services are avoided in the short term, ongoing tax cuts reduce government coffers resulting in the abandonment of those critical services in the long term. Thus, midnight basketball was taken out early (2000-2001), followed by current efforts to end Head Start and close public hospitals, with Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security on the chopping block later (say, 2006-2008). The longer that tax rates and tax collection remain low, the deeper the incisions to traditional services. This is just a city-level example of the ’starving the beast’ ideology that the GOP hopes to exact on federal, state and local governments. By shrinking tax revenues, legislatures are forced to reduce government services and programs. Legislators avoid backlash at the ballot box by cutting taxes long before they sacrifice cherished public programs.

While draconian cuts to critical services are avoided in the short term, ongoing tax cuts reduce government coffers resulting in the abandonment of those critical services in the long term. Thus, midnight basketball was taken out early (2000-2001), followed by current efforts to end Head Start and close public hospitals, with Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security on the chopping block later (say, 2006-2008). The longer that tax rates and tax collection remain low, the deeper the incisions to traditional services.

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