Stop Starving the Government, and Then Blaming It for Being Weak

America is not really broke, at least not yet. The government isn’t inefficient because it’s bloated. It’s inefficient because our leaders choose to pursue broke because they don’t have the moral backbone to make the top 10 percent pay their fair share. So, our government is going broke by design, starved by decades of tax cuts, deregulation, and donor-class delusions dressed up as “fiscal discipline.”

The problem isn’t that a teacher in Mississippi who needs Medicaid to cover chemo or that a single mom in Ohio needs help with her heating bill. The problem is that Congress hands tax breaks to billionaires and then lies to the rest of us, saying, “We all need to tighten our belts.” Where is the “we” in all of this?

While Republicans push to make the Trump tax cuts for the wealthy permanent, yes, permanent, they quietly plot cuts to Medicaid, nutrition programs, public housing, and just about everything that keeps 43% of American households afloat on less than $85K a year.

It’s economic terrorism disguised as moral superiority, not fiscal policy.

If Congress wants to reduce the deficit and deliver the services Americans need to live safe, secure, and dignified lives, then we need to do five things. And none of them start with “slash and burn.”