Bernie Sanders Rails Against GOP Budget As Boost To Income Inequality: "'At a time of massive wealth and income inequality, my Republican colleagues apparently believe that the richest people in this country need to be made even richer...'"

Going back farther...following WWII, there was a rapid growth in progressive taxation and social welfare spending in most of the rich capitalist countries. Despite this (or rather partly because of this), the period between 1950 and 1973 saw the highest-ever growth rates in these countries – known as the "Golden Age of Capitalism."

This conveniently ignores the total federal overburden on the nation. For example, in a nation of 180 million people, the overhead of the federal government demanded by JFK was $100B, over half of which was for defense.

JFK's $100B vs today's $3800B. (Population then: 180M. Today: 330M = factor of 330/180, not even x 2.0. Inflation: about x 7.66. Using those numbers, JFK's 100B take corresponds to an overburden of 100 x 330/180 x 7.66 = 1404B today.

$1400B... $3800B. We stimulated by that yet? That isn't a little... its a whopping 2.4 Trillion a year over and above JFK's America, fully adjusted and then some.

And yet, as you point out...it was JFK's economies that roared. Let's ignore all that and instead focus on the highest marginal tax rates, paid by six guys with lousy CPAs drives something called 'the economy.' Lets blow by the 15% payroll tax paid by broad working class Americans and the overall level of federal overburden on the economies. That defines cherry picking cargo cult political science.

See, when Eisenhower and JFK were spending about $100B in a nation of 180million, life was absolutely horrible in the nation. Economies flat on their back. No sense of national pride or mission. No Progress at all. Remember those days? Life was HORRIBLE. You should have seen the terrible pictures of Detroit and Appalachia. Nothing but stills and drunkards. That was years before MEDICARE and Johnson's Guns And Butter Party followed by Nixon's Me, Too Party. Today, after over half a century of Great Society Goodness, we can all be proud to say that we've turned stills into Meth labs, drunkards into crack addicts, and built a slew of million dollar plus Public Servant mansions in Northern Virginia.

So today, even the tiniest slide back from our present almost 4 trillion dollar a year tear would send this nation right off the cliff, away from this proud nation of inspired youth being sent out into vibrant economies, all thanks to the careful husbandry of the nations resources that characterizes what goes on every day inside the Beltway.

/r/politics Thread Parent Link - huffingtonpost.com