If the tax cuts for the rich WERE made permanent, wouldn't that make electoral politics pointless?

[Ken Burch]

Obviously, it would put the rich in a position of total dominance for the rest of American history.

Wouldn't that make any future elections completely irrelevant, since making the tax cuts permanent would make conservatism eternal and make all remaining differences into nothing but upper-class parlor games?

Would there be any reason, if the tax cuts were made permanent, to even bother keeping the Democratic party in existence or even to bother voting?

Wouldn't that be the time when we'd pretty much have to switch to just plain trying to overthrowing the system in order to preserve any humane values at all?

[FiveGoodMen]

1. I think you're on to something.

Seems that the last three decades have been one long attempt to make the US into a Democracy In Name Only.

Huh! That spells DINO.

[DesertFlower]

2. we no longer live in a democracy.

the country is run by greedy corporations.

[MissMarple]

5. This is not the first time.

[Ozymanithrax]

3. Permanizing taxes does not destroy our human values...

We had human values from 1954-1963 when the highest tax bracket was 91%. Of course, there was no civil rights act, and some states did not allow blacks and whites to marry, and any gay sex act was punishable by prison time, but we had human values.

In fact, the same year that saw a reduction of the top tax rate to 77% saw the passing of the civil rights act, one of the great achievement in human values.

Permanizing the taxes is a danger to our system. Because it accelerates the economic crises that will likely lead to the collapse of the U.S. government, just as an economic crises led to the collapse of the Soviet Union and even contributed to the fall of the ancient Roman empire.

[Ken Burch]

6. It may not destroy them among us as people, but it does take them out of politics forever

There can't be humane governance AND permanent austerity.

At some point, you inevitably end up with the next General MacArthur ordering his troops to open fire on the next Bonus Army.

[rhett o rick]

4. I think you are too late. The presidential elections of 2000 and 2004

clearly indicated that we dont have fair elections today. Besides when your "election" choices are corporate lackey #1 vs. corporate lackey #2, you are doomed.

We live in an oligarchy with elections.