For the past couple of months, I've been working on an economic essay, designed to rebut 30 years of right-wing propaganda. The idea is that after all that time most people meekly accept the right-wing line (cutting taxes raises revenue, for instance), and somebody needs to step up and challenge it.

In my essay, I endeavor to debunk the following right-wing economic postulates:

1. Entrepreneurs, and the venture capitalists who back them, create jobs.
2. Lowering tax rates results in more revenue for the government.
3. Reducing restrictions on business activities is good for business.
4. Free trade agreements increase economic activity and raise the standard of living.
5. Government cannot do anything domestically to increase economic activity.
6. A flat tax is fair.

I like to think I've done a pretty good job, but feel free to decide for yourself. It's too long to post here; the essay is available on my website. Just click on #173, "Right-Wing Economics vs. Reality" on the right-hand column, and enjoy. (Note: At the end is a link to an 11-page PDF version.)

Moveon.org, the Progressive activist powerhouse, is presently in some hot water with the usual suspects for having the astonishingly poor taste of telling the truth, in the New York Times, no less.

(Click to enlarge)

This truly is curious. As we noted yesterday, and Rochester Turning the day before, two wingnut Congressmen in New York are being targeted by an even wingnuttier organization, Freedoms Watch, with the goal of getting them to adhere rigidly to the White House line on Iraq. Heading up this group is Ari Fleischer, back in the day the chief salesman of the Iraq War.

Specifically, Walsh is the beneficiary of $144,955 in ad spend, while Kuhl has $187,235 directed at him. This is merely the first installment of an ad buy, presently at $5.8 million nationwide, that the group claims will eventually reach $15 million. The group is targeting 41 Members of Congress, 37 of which are republicans.

There's a delicious irony in having Bush loyalists - and both Kuhl and Walsh without question qualify for that dubious distinction - targeted with a massive ad buy to ensure that things stay that way. Pre-emption, it seems, is not out of style yet.

The beauty of it all is this: there will inevitably be a rift between republicans who hope to hold office after 2008 and the term-limited Bush White House. Now, Bush loyalists are spending $332,190 in New York to open that rift just a little bit wider. The post-Bush era is almost here; this campaign seeks to keep Kuhl and Walsh nicely mired in the present, at the expense of their future.

Hey, fine by me. See an ad after the flip.