Vol. 77/No. 2      January 21, 2013

The fiscal problems of the bosses’ government, like their financial and banking troubles, are not among the causes of the capitalist crisis that is devastating the lives of millions of working people. That crisis stems from a worldwide slowdown in capitalist production, trade and employment, and a decades-long squeeze on industrial rates of profit. The propertied rulers’ fiscal crisis is but a symptom of the deeper problem, for which they have no solution.

And while no amount of fiscal fiddling can reverse the crisis, all moves to balance their budget will be foisted with maximum weight on the backs of working people.

Underneath the Democratic and Republican politicians’ fierce haggling over tax schemes and how much and how fast to cut government expenses—with social programs as the primary and ultimate targets—is bipartisan agreement to drive down the austerity road, as are the capitalist rulers throughout Europe. The disastrous consequences for working people that lie ahead can be seen today in the debt-laden countries of Greece and Spain.

Amid the debate and invocation of “cliffs,” “ceilings” and other fetishized images designed for mass consumption, the squabbling representatives of capital in Congress all seek to garner support among working people for the austerity course. While they may disagree over how much support they have or need to carry it out, they push to make us accept that working people need to sacrifice and that these sacrifices will be shared by all for the good of the “nation.”

In their sights today are the jobs and wages of government workers and social services and programs that working people have come to depend on. They have trepidations about going too far too fast, as well they should. This will become one of many battlegrounds of working-class resistance.

As workers, we have no interest in how the capitalist class organizes to get the money to fund their government—to beef up their cops and prisons; to pay for their ever-expanding government; to pay for the profit-producing interest they rake in on their government bonds; to balance their budget. It’s from this point of view that conscious workers should reject “tax the rich” demagogy emanating from the mouthpieces of substantial sections of the propertied rulers.

Communists have no tax program under capitalism, other than to oppose taxes levied against workers.

We produce all wealth, the great bulk of which is expropriated by the owners of capital under the system of wage labor. Out of our fights to retain as much as possible will grow a mighty proletarian movement to fight to take political power out of the capitalists’ hands and build a workers and farmers government.
 
 
Related articles:
‘Fiscal cliff’ deal prepares gov’t austerity aimed at workers
Mounting evictions in Spain meet resistance
4.85 million jobless, capitalist crisis deepens  
 
 
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