On Sunday October 7, 2012 something happened that changed
the Universe in which we live. Believe it or not, someone has been saying that
small can be bigger than big (and the other way around) that big can also be
smaller than small. Do you know who was responsible for this? It was none other
than the indomitable Mitt Romney who is running to be president of the United States .
Wouldn't you love having a president like that running your country for you?
Yes, my dear reader, Mitt Romney sent his surrogates onto
the circuit of the talking heads which runs on the boob tubes of the ether –
sometimes called television – to talk their heads off trying to explain that
the hole in a doughnut can be bigger than the doughnut itself. And this will
happen, they assure you, without the hole engulfing the entire doughnut and
becoming one giant hole in the middle of nowhere.
If you don't get it, my friend, maybe you ought to read up
on those things they call black-holes in outer space. These things have been
out there since the beginning of time, and they are down here now courtesy of
the incomparable Mitt Romney and his entourage.
Here is how the thing works according to Romney and his
politico-scientific surrogates. They say that the very wealthy in America make
money but not so much of it that if you take all what they make – even by
raising the taxes on them to the 100% level – you still cannot reduce the
deficit of the nation enough to make a dent in it. The way they put it is
absolute as you can see; no wiggle room here.
So then, does that mean the deficit cannot be eliminated
without raising the taxes on the middle class? you ask. Oh no, no, say Romney
and his surrogates, you can still reduce the deficit if you close the loopholes
in the tax structure, which is a structure everyone agrees is an awfully big
and awfully bad thing.
What loopholes are these, Mr. Romney, Messrs surrogates and
Company? you ask. Are they the mortgage deductions that the middle class is
benefiting from? Or is it something like that? Oh no, no, says he and they:
“like we said before, there will be no raising of taxes on the middle class.
None whatsoever. Get it? None because we say so, and that's definitive.”
So then, what loopholes are these, Sir, Ladies and
Gentlemen? And they all respond in unison: “These would be the loopholes that
the wealthy use to reduce their taxes, and only these loopholes.”
Whoa! Let's pause here for a minute. Are you suggesting that
the money the wealthy deduct using the loopholes is larger than the money they
make on which they take the deductions? Are you saying that the hole in the
doughnut can be larger than the doughnut itself? What Universe is this?
Is Mitt Romney for real or did he take math lessons in the
belly of a black-hole at the hands of a magician called Abracadabra?
Maybe he'll soon make an announcement in that regard and put
an end to the suspense.
We can't wait.