One of the real surprises of the past few days is the revelation that the right wing really does believe an awful lot of what they say. And they really are in opposition to math and cold hard facts. And this opposition really does lead to disastrous results (for them, and for all of us when they're in charge).
It's been fun to laugh at just how shocked Romney and Fox News were when their bubble could no longer keep out the arithmetic saying they lost. We always knew that large numbers of the GOP base were being fooled by the right-wing politicians and media, but it was (to me at least) something of a revelation to find that the politicians and pundits actually fooled themselves as well.
It's time to push harder on the GOP's aversion to facts and math.
And one of the best places to push is the economic report by the Congressional Research Service, which uses facts and math to show that cutting the taxes of the rich doesn't lead to economic growth.
It's easy to assume that Republicans' wanting to cut taxes to "stimulate the economy" and thereby "increase revenues" is just a smoke screen to give more money to the rich and screw the poor. It's the sort of story that clever, selfish wealth units dream up to justify exploitation.
But what if they've actually fooled themselves into believing that it's true?
I mean, wouldn't it be great if we could make everyone better off financially just by taking less money from some people? If we really could get more money to the government by taxing less and leaving more money in all our pockets (including the rich), I'd be on board. After all, only someone who was bitter, envious, and/or stupid would want to tax the rich if that really meant that there would be less money for government, for the working class, and for the poor.
They really believe that this is the world we live in. It's a bit sad and a bit frightening to realize that they're not just trying to con the common people; they actually believe it.
This is why the most important thing we can do right now is push facts and arithmetic. And make people realize that right wingers have lost their ability to face math, and that they are living in a world of willful denial.
The Congressional Research Service report uses data, statistics, and all that stuff that Nate Silver used to predict the outcome of Tuesday's election. And the facts say that having the wealthy pay more taxes won't inhibit economic growth and it will decrease the deficit.
But the GOP doesn't go for math. They already "know" that the data and arithmetic are wrong, so they forced the report to be withdrawn.
The GOP doesn't go for math. Romney and Ryan (who were supposed to be the numbers guys) were shell-shocked when Tuesday went exactly the way the math said it would.
The GOP doesn't go for math. They really think they can cut taxes 20%, not mess with deductions for the middle class, and still have the same amount of money coming in. They really believe this!
For the good of our country, it's time for us to stand up for math. Stand up for data. Stand up for facts.
And we can start by pushing for the fact that cutting taxes on the rich doesn't stimulate economic growth.
