A classic phrase espoused by the right is "Starve the Beast." The meaning of this, succinctly, is that in order to reduce spending, you reduce taxes. By limiting the money in, you should in effect reduce money out. It makes sense. Most people run their households like that, don't spend more than you earn.
The problem is that Republicans have been really bad at this. They do reduce taxes (usually), which certainly reduces the income of the federal government, they have just failed to reduce spending to counter it. The two most dramatic spending increases in the last 50 years have occurred under Reagan (Cold War pt. II) and W (GWOT/Iraq). They have offset their increases in spending by cutting taxes, and supporting policies leading to inflation and ultimately recessions. Thus the largest budget deficits and increases to national debt where thanks to those two.
The current talking point is that we need to cut our spending, so unemployment insurance shouldn't be extended to cover those still out of work from before the last Republican left the Whitehouse. But we can't increase taxes for those making a lot of money. Anyone who believes that this is the way to stimulate an economy has no idea how money works. I could discuss this at length, but I wont for the time being.
So here is my recommendation for the Democrats struggling with carrying the weight of voting to raise taxes to levels that are still lower than they have been for 100 years (minus the previous couple of course). Allow the Republicans to bring forward a bill to extend the tax cuts for themselves and their friends, but amend the shit out of it with extensions for unemployment. There are enough votes for those amendments to pass, especially with how little it really costs. That way, there will be an ideological trap for them to fall in to. Do I vote to help my friends, but unfortunately help the common man who probably was in a union when he was employed? Or do I vote against cutting taxes so that I can further entrench poverty in massive swaths of America?
Taxes are good. Taxes are patriotic. Taxes provide you security, keep your roads drivable, keep books in your library, and pay my salary. Do they sometimes suck? Sure. Does that make them evil? No. If you have a job, you should play your part to help society, and helping society means helping the people who can't get a job until they can.
