Crumbs

House Speaker Marco Rubio is having a hard time selling his sales tax increase. He described working class people living off "other people's leftover money." Rubio is pumping the long discredited trickle down economics theory. Rubio's statement proves how much of an economic illiterate he is. How are citizens going to have more disposable income with an increased sales tax? People will not due their patriotic duty of shopping of merchandise cost more. Trickle down economics reminds me of this passage from the New Testament.

Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

What the sales tax increase will do to the poor and working class is offer less crumbs.

He who denied Lazarus crumbs is now denied Lazarus' comfort.

Two callers to the Jim Defede Show took exception with Rubio's comment.

"The working people are what built this country," said a caller named Cliff. "We didn't live off handouts, which is what he's suggesting. ... It's a typical Republican (attitude), looking down their noses at the average guy."

Robert, another caller, took issue with increasing the sales tax.

"Most working-class people are just struggling to survive and their solution is the most regressive form of tax there is? This is unbelievable. Trickle-down economics was disproven. ... I work my tail off every day just to make ends meet, and if they raise the sales tax, that's going to be coming directly out of every little bit that I earn. It's just going to make it even more expensive to live here, not less."

Economics Profeesor Jonathan Hamilton has the best quote.

"It's also going to trickle down to Mercedes dealers," said Jonathan Hamilton, chairman of the University of Florida's economics department. "Maybe Mr. Rubio has a very well-calculated story about where people are going to spend their tax savings. But to say they'll spend it on low-income workers is a stretch."

Rubio is off to a hell of a start. A lemon is a lemon. No matter how Rubio tries to pitch it.