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John Stewart is not playing with a full deck

By: Frederick (Diary)  |  March 2nd, 2011 at 07:01 PM  | 

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If you watch “The Daily Show” on a regular basis since Craig Kilborn left, your brain has probably turned to mush.  The economic ignorance spouted by John Stewart on a daily basis (no pun intended) is absolutely stunning.

Just in case the embed doesn’t work, here’s the link.

That’s it! It’s the Bush Tax Cuts! They’re to blame for Wisconsin’s current woes! John Stewart said so! Darn those pesky Republicans and their tax cuts for the Rich!  Keep the meme going!  It’s all Bush’s fault!

This is asinine.  John Stewart doesn’t have anything else, so he plays the same hand of cards he always does: Blame the rich, blame the Republicans.

Associating the $700 billion dollar tax increase that would have come from allowing the 2003-2010 Federal tax rates to sunset with teacher salaries in Wisconsin is a logical leap akin to trying to leap the Grand Canyon on a tricycle. The one has nothing to do with the other. Federal budgets and state budgets are only linked insofar as the Federal government gives assistance to the states. Those Federal assistance dollar amounts haven’t changed. What has changed is Wisconsin’s budget deficit, which has swelled from roughly neutral to $3.6 billion in the next two years.

Listening to John Stewart however, the uneducated masses are taught that Federal tax cuts are to blame for state budgetary woes, and (miracle of miracles!) they get to blame their favorite whipping boy, George W. Bush!  That might work in Bizarro World and in the minds of people who simply don’t know any better, but it’s hardly truthful.  Meanwhile, back in reality, Wisconsin has a major budget deficit that has to be dealt with.

The money has to come from somewhere. I’m not saying it has to be teachers (in fact, only about $749 million, or 20.8%, is coming out of primary and secondary education). Most of the cuts are coming from other parts of the state government, and the ONLY things these teachers are actually being asked to do is contribute to their retirement, contribute to their health plan, and give up collective bargaining on PART (not all) of their compensation. That seems pretty reasonable when the alternative is cutting head count and increasing class sizes.

The average compensation for a teacher in Wisconsin is $51,000. According to the Census Bureau, that’s about $13,000 more than the average worker living in Wisconsin in 2007 (the latest data the government shares). Even if wages increased at the rate of inflation (they didn’t), that’s still about $10,000 more than the average worker in Wisconsin in 2010.

So John Stewart ignores these facts, throws down his hand (blame Bush and the Republicans for everything that seems wrong or unfair) and completely ignores reality.  Even though he’s got a jumble of unrelated cards, he calls it a straight flush and claims victory.  Just because he’s on TV, huge swathes of the populace believe him, even though his reasoning has absolutely nothing to do with reality.

John Stewart argues that raising taxes, not reducing expenditures, will help Wisconsin’s budget woes. Wisconsin has the 4th highest tax burden of any state according to the Tax Foundation; so if his objective is to drive jobs (and by extension, families with school-aged children) from Wisconsin, thereby reducing the number of teachers needed, it might well work! Except it won’t. Michigan has already played this hand and driven jobs across its borders with high taxes and regulation and favors to unions, and its budget woes have continued for years.

Raising taxes is not the answer to solving any government’s budget woes, at least not during a recession. Cutting spending is the key, but the government unions in Wisconsin don’t want to be part of the solution.

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  • carolina

    GOP controlled state legislature is expected to pass it.
    NO collective bargaining for benefits and pensions.
    No strikes; and penalities if ‘walk off’.
    No more COLA adjustments, only merit pay increases.

    This was just reported on Kudlow on CNBC. WI dems should be grateful for Walker being so light-handed by comparison.

    • runner12

      That makes my day. You go Kasich :) .

  • Finrod

    One is a Green Lantern; the other has a clown nose that he puts on and takes off at his convenience, and also changed his last name from Leibowitz.

  • ScottRM

    instead of just slashing spending during recessionary times. The types of spending cuts being proposed by republicans will increase unemployment and general economic anxiety, and decrease economic growth. That means fewer tax receipts for the remaining structures and fewer jobs. In other words the budget will still be left unbalanced but the schools, roads, and workforce etc will be in a state of decline. It will be a kind of de-evolution of civilization orchestrated by republican leadership. As much as people don’t like tax increases, they only marginally affect and reduce personal spending of the working population. The effect of tax increases on jobs is less than the spending cut only approach, and you have to keep people working. As taxpayers see the de-construction of their state, which will undeniably accompany massive spending cuts, and as they see continued unbalanced budgets that don’t go away, they will abandon current conservative ideology. George W’s tax cuts are a great example. They produced no new jobs and had no long term positive effects on economic growth and general economic and social stability. They DID significantly hurt the budget. In contrast, appropriate tax increases will stabilize the system and promote consumer optimism in the future. The lack of pragmatism on display here will lead to a political implosion.

    • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

      1. Spending – by just the Feds – is running in excess of 25% of GDP. That is about 10% higher than historical tax revenue.
      2. The US has the highest taxes on business in the developed world. Google “3M CEO taxes” and check his comments In IBD.
      3. The government – especially the Federal government – is spending money on things that are flatly unconstitutional – unless you’re a constitutional buffoon like Obama – like education, commerce and housing. We need – no, we must – move toward free markets with no government interference. It’s not that spending needs to be cut, it’s that the scope of government needs to be reduced and reduced drastically.
      4. Where the government does want to spend money on things like infrastructure it’s for projects like high-speed rail. A rat-hole to throw money in that will never be fiscally sound.
      5. The government flat-out employs too many people and pays them too much. A government employee costs roughly twice as much as a private sector employee and does about half as much.
      6. The problem with Bush and the tax cuts wasn’t the tax cuts, it was the fact that he refused to cut spending and reduce the scope of government.
      7. If the government – at all levels – got the message on spending and started reducing headcount by, oh let’s say 700,000 government leeches employees, that would be a good thing. Let ‘em collect unemployment. Then let ‘em see if their immediate families will keep them from starving because God knows they’re not qualified to work in the private sector.
      8. Somehow I suspect you’ve managed to collect everything that you would pass for wisdom from the pubic school system and fairly recently. That would explain your poor writing skills, your non-existent research skills and your general ignorance.

      • ScottRM

        Your slash and burn mentality will not fly. George W. tried to reduce the scope of government after he cut taxes, only to realize that the electorate was not in agreement with him. Thanks for the tax cuts and increased deficits though. The same electorate will not want to substantially deconstruct the existing services, especially in a recessionary environment, and especially when these effect core services like education, health, roads, and safety issues. Just tellin ya.

        • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

          Bush expanded the scope of government beyond what even Clinton had the [] to try.

          Whether or not “the electorate” will tolerate cuts is immaterial to the core argument. They either tolerate them now or we’ll look like Greece shortly. A major part of the reason for the recession is too many non-productive workers – ie: people “working” for government entities. And people like you.

          What a pathetic little screed.

        • aesthete

          Clearly, it’s the good stuff.

          Bush ran on “compassionate conservatism”, and on the fact that he was going to out-Democrat Gore on education, Medicare, and other fields.

  • ScottRM

    A study published February 10 by the think tank Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that when “[c]omparisons controlling for education, experience,” and other factors are taken into account, “Wisconsin public employees earn 4.8% less in total compensation per hour than comparable full-time employees in Wisconsin’s private sector.” Thats total compensation including benefits. Apparently John Stewart is right.

    • Justin Spagnolo (standardcandle)

      1. EPI doesn’t have an agenda right?
      2. Comparisons utilizing targeted stratified variables will skew the standard deviation.
      3. See #2 as to why this is not an oranges to oranges comparison.
      4. The conclusion is based on total compensation, not total opportunity based on merit.

      You see teachers would likely see greater compensation if they produced greater results, rather than remain stagnant in any number of metrics that measure productivity and efficiency rather than some unmeasurable “progression of procession” that is spoke of endlessly.

      • ScottRM

        EPI may have an agenda but that doesn’t mean the data is wrong. The comparison isn’t perfect, but the notion that public employees are making big bucks off of the private mans back doesn’t hold much water. The problem is the pensions.

        • http://908StraightSt.wordpress.com/ mbecker908

          global warming. More of that data you like.

          Public employees make way too much money. There are way too many of them. Their pensions are out of control. And you have no solution. Hint fool: raising taxes will not generate the revenue needed to maintain your fairyland. The people who actually produce wealth will leave.

    • http://seekingliberty.wordpress.com fmaidment

      …the current tax rates (and the perceived loss of revenue) with Wisconsin’s budget woes. That’s asinine.

      Further, Wisconsin has one of the highest tax burdens already, and you think they should tax MORE? Did you even READ the post? John Stewart is a one trick pony and doesn’t have a clue what he’s yabbering about. If he actually does know what he’s talking about, then he’s being deliberately dishonest. In order for soething to be comedy, it must be honest. This is either maniacal ravings or propaganda. Take your pick.

  • earlgrey

    I watched it some after he left, but I never really liked Jon Stewart. Can’t get to the remote fast enough when The Daily Show comes on my TV. I can’t stand Stewart.

    • Common_Cents

      in limited markets for a trial run this summer and not sure if Fox is gonna pick it up.

      Kilborn was entertaining.

      • rightwingmom52

        Something about calling for snipers to take out Bush.

        Used to like him but not so much after that. Same with Bill Maher. I hate to admit I ever watched him, but years ago before he became so filled with hate, he used to unload on all politicians, not just conservatives.

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    he just isn’t very funny. He plays a clip of someone saying something stupid, then he makes a face. That is about 90% of his schtick.

    • earlgrey

      I don’t think he is funny at all. some things are just too complicated to make funny, but he could be more amusing if he wasn’t always trying to be so political. he is trying to sway opinon and do a comedy show, it just doesn’t always work, and the stupid faces are getting old.