Burrus Response to Congressman Issa’s Criticism Of APWU Ad

My response to Congressman Darryl Issa’s criticism of the APWU’s ad was intended to expose politicians who hold others to a high standard of honesty while engaging in the highest forms of hypocrisy. With scant and selective research, Congressman Issa referred to a report from the Federal Trade Commission that listed exceptions afforded the Postal Service because of its unique role as a federal agency. He conveniently omitted the conclusion reached by the Commission that the USPS’ legal constraints, along with the values of its implicit subsidies results in the “USPS’ unique legal status likely places it at a net competitive disadvantage relative to private carriers.”

This selective reading of the four year old report which does not include in its analysis the Congressional imposed obligation to fund future retirees’ health costs is cited as proof of the allegation that the APWU’s ad is misleading. In my response, I make a comparison to the Republican Party’s reliance upon a poll driven defense of the repeal of the Bush tax cuts for major businesses through their repeated assertions that the tax cuts are “job creators.”

The record is clear that in the years following the tax cuts for the wealthy, job growth in the United States has been at historic lows; the lowest since the Great Depression. In the year that President Bush left office, the country actually lost 700,000 jobs while the tax rates for the “job creators” were significantly reduced.

A recent report reveals that an investment of $3.33 per consumer in American made products would create a total of 10,000 jobs; so if the billions of dollars in tax avoidance had been directed towards job growth in the US, unemployment would be zero today.

President Obama is held accountable for the economy but government cannot create jobs without stimulus spending, which conservative legislators like Congressman Issa vigorously oppose. At the same time, these same legislators defend the exportation of American Jobs to foreign countries through the tax code.

The political response has been that reduced taxes increases investments, but in this compressed world where products can be produced anywhere, those investments are not being made in the United States.

Congressman Issa and his colleagues knows the arithmetic but their loyalty to the corporate elite influences their political decisions so they divert the attention of the American public by focusing on the question of nonexistent postal subsidies.

The APWU’s ad is an effort to clarify the misunderstanding of many Americans that at this time of bailouts and taxpayer revolt, the Postal Service is not requesting taxpayer relief. Congressman Issa knows this – so don’t change the subject.

Bill Burrus
Burrus Journal

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