The Senate has passed the tax cut, with Dick Cheney doing the necessary honors by casting a tie-breaking vote. Gee, if Bush’s policies were so great, why is the Vice President getting such a workout at his only official duty?
Anyway. The tax cut mavens insist that the tax cut will inject money into the economy by businesses investing in infrastructure, etc. This is seems unlikely to me – why would they do such a thing when consumers and the like aren’t buying? And how will the consumers buy if they aren’t getting a significant tax break themselves? Even though in the end there are some tax benefits for low and middle income taxpayers, they amount to about a 1.2% increase in household income. That comes to $436.80 annually for me, or $16.80 per paycheck. Wow! Think of the economic stimulus possibilities… I could get a pizza. Or a DVD. Oh – I could buy 16 songs on iTunes Music. Thank you, Mr. Bush.
It seems to me, when I am in my FDR New Deal mood, that we would get a bigger bang for the buck if the government would, itself, inject that money into the economy instead of waiting for fat cat CEOs to do it. You know what the government could do? Plow that money into construction of schools. Road improvement. Health care infrastructure. Low-cost housing. Inner-city revival. Now, wouldn’t all that construction create jobs? Improve people’s lives and our national infrastructure? I know, it’s such a “tax and spend” liberal idea. But it’s a lot more direct way to improve people’s lives than the Republican way – make it possible for the rich people to help, but don’t require them. Yeah, that works wonderfully.
