Years ago there was a TV ad for Hershey’s chocolate bars. Two siblings had one bar to share. The sister broke the bar in two uneven pieces. The brother shouted, “No fair!” Being cooperative the big sister bit off a big chunk and handed one piece to her brother. He gladly accepted the now equal piece. Funny commercial.
Fast forward to 1980. Ronald Reagan runs for president with a new plan, “trickledown economics.” His plan gave tax breaks to the wealthy. The money generated would “trickledown” to the rest of us. After 36 years we know the tax breaks for the wealthy don’t trickledown. The middle class has been in decline since Reagan.
Today a new tax plan is being proposed. “Trickledown” all over again? Large tax breaks for the very wealthy. Again we are told the 1 percent will use this to spur the economy and the money will provide jobs and wealth to the middle class. Never mind the trillions of dollars added to the deficit. Never mind cuts made to fund these tax cuts. Be patient. Just like with the Hershey Bar, we’ll bite off a good chunk of our GDP and split whatever is left – if anything is left. It was ridiculous then to think it was a fair practice to take a big share off the top and then split the leftovers evenly. C’mon folks it is ridiculous!
We have a choice in Montana right now. We can elect another representative from the 1 percent to make the rules that benefit the 1 percent or we can elect Rob Quist. He is an honest man. He faced financial crisis due to health expenses instead of declaring bankruptcy and walking away.
It’s time for the 99 percent to vote for a representative of the majority not the 1 percent.
Kathryn Shaw
Lakeside