As the years slip by, it has become evident to me that a recurring theme repeats as each generation reaches for political power – one of disdain for their predecessors. The world changes, they “get it” and their parents – well, not so much. The “OK Boomer’ put-down has merit, there are times when Boomers don’t get it. Nonetheless, there were once courtesies that appear to have vanished. Opinion contributors to a publication were expected to remain mute whatever nonsense might be submitted by their peers. Best to leave needed critiques for letters to the editor.

Imagine my surprise to read Jimmy Sengenberger’s hyper-ventilated exegesis over my July Fourth column which mentioned “trickle-down economics” in passing. I must have ruined his entire holiday in order for him to respond the next day (“SENGENBERGER | ‘Trickle down’ is left’s straw man,” July 6).

While Jimmy was kind enough to credit my infrequent eloquence, I want to assure him that what I actually shoot for is being persuasive. I suspect my occasional success may be what perturbs him. I do not intend to make it a practice to quarrel with what Jimmy serves up to Colorado Politics readers, but I can’t help feeling he has invited me to respond. So, just this once, I will.

Of course, there is no “trickle down” curriculum offered in economics texts. It’s a metaphor, Jimmy! It is meant to capture the congeries of economic theory embraced by Republicans to justify skimming the cream off the top of our economy and funneling it, untaxed, to those who already have the most. This includes such ludicrous propositions as: (1) job creators, (2) makers and takers, (3) tax cuts that pay for themselves, and (4) the sacred wisdom of the market that always prices goods, labor and profits correctly. For a more learned discussion of these myths, I urge you to read Paul Krugman’s, “Arguing with Zombies.”

I hope readers will indulge me long enough to consider a layman’s take on each of these lunatic hypotheses. God forbid we should meddle with the job creators. Really? Amazon and Wal-Mart are now the two largest private employers in America. They didn’t set out to be job creators. To the contrary, they meant to be job destroyers for family businesses, and then replaced them with substandard jobs. Glory Hallelujah! So much for Colorado’s Main Streets.

And what about those “makers and takers”? The implication is clear. Virtue lies with the makers, not the takers. Yesiree, those makers grow our economy while the takers are lazy parasites who demand a living wage for a full day’s work. What could be greedier than that? Of course, COVID exposed our truly essential workers – not the financial entrepreneurs on Wall Street, but the grocery clerks, ICU nurses and Amazon delivery drivers. Should they earn enough to send their kids to a public university, or should their wages be determined exclusively by the market? I’m just asking, Jimmy.

Now, let’s look at those tax cuts for the wealthy. Only once in our history has a tax cut been followed by greater revenue and Republicans won’t let us forget it. John Kennedy, a Democrat, cut taxes and the momentum in the Cold War economy drove up revenues despite his cuts. It hasn’t worked since. If you follow Jimmy’s logic, we should simply eliminate taxes and government will have all the money it could ever need. Highways, police, vaccines, health care could all be had for free. We must have been incredibly stupid not to have tried this Oh wait, Kansas did and guess what? It failed.

What happens when we allow 99% of the economic growth in America pass to the wealthiest 1%, as it did during the past year? (Yes, these numbers are pretty much correct.) For one thing, the 1% buy more yachts – not here in the United States. We don’t have much of a yacht building industry any longer. Taiwan, however, does a bang-up job on yachts. And your vacation trips to watch their progress can be written off as business expenses. It doesn’t get much better than that. Your kids don’t have to take out student loans. Hell, if you work for the Trump companies, they will pay their tuition and write it off as a business expense. It may come as a surprise, but there are Americans who believe such arrangements are intrinsically unfair.

When they complain, Jimmy and his friends at Americans for Prosperity insist the market never gets it wrong. The price is right. I was raised to believe there are intangible values that can’t be priced. My auto mechanic deserves my respect and a sustainable income. So does my barber. I’m not searching for the low-cost provider. We Boomers do have our principles. And, we still know a thing or two.