Clyburn Hopes To Use Supercommittee Post To Tackle Growing Wealth Gap

[Purveyor]

By Mike Lillis - 08/14/11 07:10 AM ET

A leading House Democrat is hoping to use his prestigious seat on the deficit-cutting supercommittee to close the growing gully that divides the rich and the poor in America.

Rep. James Clyburn (S.C.) said the recent debate over slashing spending and reducing deficits has all but ignored the toll those cuts could exact on lower income folks, particularly in minority communities. Clyburn – the third-ranking House Democrat and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) – is vowing to use his perch on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to tackle the nation's enormous wealth gap.

"In 1963, Dr. King expressed disbelief that the vault of opportunity in this great country was empty. Yet in 2011, the gap continues to grow wider between those who enjoy great wealth and those who struggle to get by with little thought of ever getting ahead," Clyburn said in a statement reacting to his appointment on the deficit panel.

"Too often, the human side gets lost in the Washington debates about our nation's debt and deficits," he added. "I will seek to keep those interests on the table."

MORE...

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/176779-clyburn-hopes-to-use-supercommittee-post-to-tackle-wealth-gap

[ixion]

1. heh... yeah, right. Good luck with that.

[LonePirate]

2. Exactly. The Republicans view the wealth gap as not being wide enough. He has a fight on his hands.

[polichick]

3. Clyburn is one of few good guys in DC - kudos to him!

[AdHocSolver]

4. Clyburn should point out that the most significant reason for U.S. economic problems is unemployment

All economies are driven by DEMAND, not tax breaks to the rich.

Demand requires two conditions: people have money to spend AND they want to spend it.

The flip side is supply: people have the ability to produce goods and services AND they are offering those goods and service for sale.

For economic activity to occur, all four conditions must be met. The DRIVER of economic activity is DEMAND (NOT supply). Producers only invest in creating supply when there are people with money to spend who also want to spend it. (This is why "supply side" economics, giving tax breaks and/or subsidies to "producers" to stimulate the economy, NEVER works: Why increase inventory if there are no buyers with money to spend.

What does work is providing "buyers" with money to spend. Then producers will provide products and services.

While just giving money to businesses to "stimulate" the economy is useless (actually it is counterproductive since it removes money from the economy), spending money on infrastructure, education, health care, and research and development truly stimulates the economy as it increases demand with a multiplier effect. The increased employment increases tax revenue as well as demand for other goods and services.

(The bank bailouts actually exacerbated U.S. economic problems because they just went to reimburse the Wall Street gamblers for their losses incurred from their crooked schemes. The bailout money might have done some good if the banks had been forced to actually use that money for economic investment.)