First, the Bush administration rammed through huge tax cuts for the richest among us. This squandered the huge surplus left by Clinton, and then plunged us from there straight down the fiscal graph into the largest deficit in history. Wow, Bush doesn’t do anything small, does he?
Then, faced by the black hole he created, Bush and Congressional Republicans decided that the way out of this was to cut spending, finally — did they decide to stop pouring money into Iraq? Into the pockets of the record profit-making oil companies? Into pet projects of Congressmen such as Ted Stevens of Alaska?
Nope. The best place to cut, they figured, is programs that help the poor. They cut about $50,000,000,000 from these programs that help keep people fed, healthy, and off the streets.
Now, feeling good about their fiscal brilliance, they’ve moved on to the next step, this time aided and abetted by some brainless Democrats: the House has passed a bill cutting taxes by $95,000,000,000. Admittedly, I’m no math scholar. But doesn’t that come out to be nearly twice the amount that they cut out of the budget?
So, the net result is that the richest percentage of the American taxpayers become even more rich — they could buy another couple of houses, upgrade the private jet, buy another couple of crates of champagne to bathe in — at the expense of the poor, who have just been kicked to the curb. Literally.
Of course, what this really comes down to is yet another carefully calculated plot by the RNC and the Rovekins to stack the deck for the 2006 mid-terms. By cutting taxes, they are positioned (and already using it) to say that any Democrat who wants to roll back these ill-advised tax cuts is going to raise taxes.
Note to Democrats: just point out how your opponents cut Medicare for seniors, cut school lunch programs, cut housing and other assistance. I mean, the rich people already aren’t voting for you. Time to call out the 98% of Americans who aren’t rich.
Growing up on the farm there was only one chore that ever scared me and that was slopping the hogs. I sat on a fence and dumped buckets of food as the hogs went crazy. And I knew, I just knew, that if I slipped and fell there would soon be nothing left of me because the hogs so focused on their feeding frenzy were unaware of the world around them and would attack anything thing that got between them and the trough.
I see that same behavior today in the Republican party, they’re in full feeding mode and the frenzy has started and while its going on they are oblivious to everything going on in the world around them and will attack anything or anyone that gets between them and the trough.
Honest members of the House and Senate skirt around the trough issue because they know (like I did) that if you slip and get between the hogs and the trough, death is swift and certain.