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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 12, 2012)
^îortlanb © bserüer Page 8 December 12, 2012 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views o f the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. New Prices Effective May 1,2010 Martin Cleaning Service R o W r Y WAV : Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Residential & Commercial Services Minimum Service CH G $45.00 A small distance/travel charge may be applied C A R PE T CLEAN IN G 2 Cleaning Areas or more $30.00 Each Area Pre-Spray Traffic Areas (Includes: I sm all H allway) 1 Cleaning Area (only) $40.00 Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area (Hallway Extra) S tairs (12-16 stairs - With Other Services)-. $25.00 Area/Oriental Rugs. $25.00 Minimum Area/Oriental Rugs (Wooly. $40.00 Minimum MM Heavily Soiled Area: Additional $10.00 each area (Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying) U PH O LSTERY C LE A N IN G Sofa: $69.00 Loveseat: $49.00 Sectional: $ 109 - $ 139 Chair or Recliner: $25 - $49 Throw Pillows (With th O th er Services): $5.00 % A D D ITIO N A L SE R V IC E S • Area & Oriental Rug Cleaning • Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning • Deodorizing & Pet Odor Treatment • Spot & Stain Removal Service • Scotchguard Protection • Minor Water Damage Services SEE CURRENT FLYER FOR ADDITIONAL PRICES & SERVICES Call for Appointment (503) 281-3949 MM A Hoax by Politicians and Corporations Don’t believe the cliff hype by P eter H art T he b ig g est story in W ash ington, D.C., is about something that doesn't really e x ist: the so- called fiscal cliff. T his m an u fac tured panic is all about politicians and corporate interests getting things they w ant— things that don't have much to do with the crisis anyway. But instead of challenging this spin, big media outlets are play ing along. So what's the not-really-a-cliff anyway? It's a number of things that are set to happen all at once starting in January. On the one hand, there are budget cuts, more or less equally divided between military and do mestic spending. The threat of those cuts was supposed to force Con gress to reach a deal last year. It didn't. Add in the expiration of the Bush- era tax cuts and a temporary cut in the Social Security payroll tax and it starts to really add up. That's what's causing these breathless TV reports telling you that if Congress and the White House don't act in the next few weeks, the average family’s tax bill will go up an astonishing $3,500. Astonishing, sure. And if it all happened, the country would very likely be thrown into another re cession. But will it happen?That's extremely unlikely. And is it really a cliff? Absolutely not. A cliff, literally speaking, isn't something you can fall off only a little bit. But this tax and spending problem could go right into January without much disruption for tax payers or the economy. And there are plenty of ways to make sure that most Americans won't see a mas sive tax increase. Those scary num bers you're hearing rest on the as sumption that no deal is reached for the entire year. So why call it a cliff then?To make it seem like an immediate response is essential. There are powerful inter ests looking to use a crisis to push for policy changes that have noth ing to do with the current problem. So you might turn on the TV and hear the millionaire CEO of a major corporation say the cliff is really about the “need” to cut the eamed- benefit programs Social Security and Medicare. Oh, they don't call them cuts — they prefer to talk about “reforming our entitlem ent program s.” But they're talking about cuts that aren't a required part of what it will take to get the country's fiscal house in order. Social Security and Medicare spending isn’t, in fact, what's caus ing the fiscal problems we're told must be solved. And the fact that some o f these CEOs are the same W all Street wizards who played a key role in creating the housing crisis and the Great Recession, which actu ally did cause fiscal woes by de pressing tax revenue at the local, state and federal levels, doesn't come up. W e're supposed to see them as responsible stew ards of the econom y. Cutting Medicare is the part of the plan these austerity-loving chief executives are happy to talk about on TV. ”The big nut is going to have to be M e d ic a re /M e d ic a id ,” Honeywell CEO David Cote said in a CBS-broadcast interview. “At the end of the day, you can't avoid the topic.” But that's not all they have in mind. Wouldn't you know it, their prescription for the country's debt problem calls for an array of tax breaks for corporations. In other words, these CEOs are aim ing for tax breaks for them selves, at the expense o f Social Security and M edicare. They're putting two o f the country's most effective and popular social pro grams arbitrarily at risk, under the guise o f shrinking the federal bud get deficit. If journalism is to do us any good at all, the major media must expose this selfish agenda. While a few skeptical reports have begun to appear in The Wash ington Post, New York Magazine, and on CNN, just about everywhere you turn you find stories about the dreaded but dubious fiscal cliff. Don't believe the hype. Peter Hart is the activism direc tor o f Fairness & Accuracy in Re porting.
