Faced with a defeat to his huge tax cut to benefit the rich, the president has now changed tactics and brought out, once again, the old saw: “If you don’t support it, you’re unpatriotic.” Is anyone else sick of hearing this tired refrain? It ranks up there with “if you don’t buy a new car, the terrorists have won.” From Dana Milbank in today’s Washington Post:
With the nation at war, the White House has introduced a new justification for President Bush’s $726 billion tax cut: Do it for the troops.
Three times in the past week, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer has urged the passage of Bush’s tax cut, as he put it Monday, “to make sure that the economy can grow and that jobs can be created, so that when our men and women in the military return home, they’ll have jobs to come home to.”
Democrats are using the war spending request, which Bush sent to the Hill on Tuesday, as ammunition against the tax cut, arguing that it is not affordable because the war spending request proves the funds are needed at home and abroad. For example, the administration, as part of the bidding process related to the funding request, said it wants to “facilitate rapid, universal health service delivery to the Iraqi population.” Democrats say that is a fine idea, but it should also be done at home, where millions lack health insurance.
“The president needs to realize that funding homeland security, winning the war, stabilizing Iraq and dealing with the deficit is far more important to America than shoveling huge wads of cash to the wealthiest sliver of the population,” said David Sirota, the spokesman for House Appropriations Committee Democrats.
Similarly, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) yesterday linked his support for the war spending to his tax-cut opposition. “I find it disturbing that this request comes as the president continues to dig us further in debt by pushing through a massive tax cut to benefit the most affluent,” he said. “That’s simply wrong considering our nation is at war and our service men and women are being asked to give the ultimate sacrifice halfway around the world.”
