Consider this our second lesson in economics; Economics 102.

Lets talk about high corporate (or business) taxes versus low taxes. I argued with a die-hard Conservative for about an hour this weekend, and he refused to see the sense of what I am about to tell you. Let’s see if it makes sense to you, or if I am wet behind the ears. I’ll use the same examples I gave him.

Let’s say I have two tax scenarios; one is with corporate/business taxes at 25% and one is at 75%. Please keep in mind that no one is suggesting even close to a 75% tax rate, but let’s use it for an example.

My Conservative friend said that trickle down economics works because if he had lower corporate taxes (he doesn’t own a business) he would use that extra money saved with the lower taxes to buy equipment, which would trickle down to the factory that made the equipment and the people employed there. Well enough.

Except that’s not the way it works in business. It sounds good, it almost sounds right, but it isn’t. It’s an anecdote that has no basis in reality. I answered that any business person waiting until after he had paid his taxes to see what he had left for capital equipment purchases is a moron and deserves to get gouged by taxation. That wasn’t met with a great deal of understanding or approval, so I explained why I said it.

In trying to come up with a new post for the last few days, I’ve been struck by how negative some of my articles have become. I wanted to write about joblessness, or about Glenn Beck’s upcoming Revelation on August 27, but these things would invariably have led to more negativity. For just one day, I want to write about something positive.

That it took me several days to find something to write about is indicative of what my focus on politics is doing to my mind. You can’t stay here, in the world of bad news, or corruption, unemployment and economic depression, for long. You have to get out of it for a bit and open your eyes, because there is still beauty to behold, and still good in this world.

When I’m looking for something good to focus on I invariably find my daughter.

It’s rare that I invoke the name of the Holy High Radio Host, Glenn Beck. But ironic times call for ironic measures, and this is such a time. I’m astounded that I’m first one to think of this, maybe even the only one. It’s hard to believe that Glenn Beck didn’t see this before I did, but I’ll give him a pass, since he’s been so busy, lately. In fact, I’ll pick up the mantel of paranoia and fear for him, if just for a while. I’m serious, dead serious.

It all begins with the color red. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before, but maybe that’s because I relied on Beck too much. Maybe all that fear-mongering band wagoneering softened my senses, clouded my judgment, and blinded me to the truth. Still, am I the only one who has seen this?

The thirty year old Conservative plan for the economy is known by many names; Supply Side, Reaganomics, but my favorite name for it is Trickle-Down economics. In case you don’t follow economic theories, Trickle-Down is the practice of giving advantage to the supply side of our economics system, the corporations, wealthy, and small businesses who create jobs, through tax breaks and incentives. The idea is that wealthy people flush with cash save that cash, and those savings are invested, through some means, back into the economy, which then through various ways, trickles down even to the poorest of Americans, either through innovations and efficiencies that make consumer goods less expensive to own, or through job creation due to increased demand.

Historically, this has been accomplished through tax breaks, especially for corporate America. In fact, about the only solution available to Supply-Siders is reducing taxes.

Thankfully, that’s as complicated as Republicans have made it, which makes my job much simpler. The idea of cutting taxes for corporate America and small businesses is that they will then use that money to create jobs in their own businesses. Only we’ve been using Bush’ Trickle-Down tax cuts for nine years, and we’re bleeding jobs. The best that can be said about Bush’ job creation record was that it was a positive record during his two terms. He averaged 49,000 jobs created per month. Economists say we need at least 150,000 to keep up with population growth. So Bush only fell about 101,000 jobs short per month with his Trickle-Down plan.

So much for tax cuts creating jobs.

The geniuses in the White House and the so-called economists are calling it “Structural Unemployment”. That’s their moniker for the record number of people (6.55 Million ) who have been unemployed for twenty-seven weeks or longer as of July, 2010,according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. And that number doesn’t even include the number of people (8.5 Million) who have been forced to work part-time because their hours were cut or they can’t find full-time employment.

I sent the following email to Charlie Sykes, Talk Radio Host at WTMJ in Milwaukee, WI. I’d explain the reason for it, but I think the email does a pretty good job of filling you in. Anyway, here it is. Let’s see what his response will be, if any.