Making Sense

Conservatives think they’ve found a way to sell middle-class voters on a corporate tax cut. John McCain has been touring the country telling displaced factory workers that their jobs will come back if corporations get to keep more of their profits through lower taxes. That might be a compelling argument… if it weren’t completely false. Progressives can’t let conservatives distort the facts. We need to tell the truth about corporate taxes and lead on a real plan to strengthen the American economy.

Conservatives don’t want to admit that our economy is in miserable shape. Less than two weeks ago, John McCain said, “I still believe the fundamentals of our economy are strong.” But Americans simply don’t believe it—they think we’re in a recession. And whether or not the economy is technically in a recession, we can point to a different economic indicator of conservative failure: the misery index.

This Labor Day, many working families in America may not feel like celebrating. Approximately half of Americans are concerned that a member of their household will lose his or her job in the coming year. More than a quarter say that their household’s financial situation is now fairly or very bad. [CBS/ New York Times] American families don’t want more government bailouts for irresponsible banks or tax breaks for big oil companies—they want an economy that works for working Americans.

It’s back-to-school time. In conservative politics, that means it’s time to pull out their tired old ideological war-horse, school vouchers. But vouchers represent a cut-and-run strategy in public education and Americans have never liked them: voters have rejected every voucher and tuition tax credit referendum proposed in the past 30 years. Progressives need to speak up for quality schools, not school vouchers.