News - Is President Bush’s tax cut plan good for America?

No. Even in the face of a complex market meltdown, the GOP plods along blindly, placing all its economic eggs in one tax cut basket

If ever there was a time for the United States government to exercise fiscal restraint, that time is now. In these uncertain days of the post-Clinton economy, fear and uncertainty are the prevailing emotions, and it would appear that the proverbial and oft-predicted rainy day has finally arrived.

At times like this, the most prudent course would be to reduce debt and ride out the storm on the best possible financial footing.

But noooo. The illegitimate pretender George W. Bush, no longer satisfied with his original tax cut plan of $1.3 trillion, has gone even further around the bend, poor-mouthing the economy and proposing that Congress up the ante to a whopping $3 trillion — a number the anti-intellectual Executive Goof is unlikely to comprehend.

Bush’s cover story is that huge and immediate tax cuts will result in increased consumer spending, thereby stimulating the sluggish economy. But lax consumer spending is not the sole cause of our current economic interlude, and most conservative economists agree that debt reduction is the wisest course to take. Still, Bush hears no logic, and speaks no logic.

There are two major arguments against Bush’s plan: First is the tired and all-too-easy liberal argument that Bush’s tax cut primarily benefits the top 1 percent of taxpayers. Conservatives couldn’t care less about the class warfare approach, and even proudly acknowledge their advocacy for the ultra-rich. The more potent argument is that the national debt, which was substantially reduced during the Clinton years, it’s at risk of expanding dramatically if the tax cut should pass and the economy continue to flounder.

But Bush’s supporters are having none of it, relying on out-of-date projections of future budget surpluses to insulate us from the realities of rising debt. Even in the face of a complex market meltdown, the GOP plods along blindly, placing all its economic eggs in one tax cut basket.

Republicans are not renowned for their adherence to principles of true financial responsibility. Even their personal lifestyles often represent garish spending to the limits of all available credit. In the bizarre world of Republican dogma, money is always an easily renewable resource, and the strategy of prudently steering the world’s largest economy takes a back seat to conspicuous consumption.

The Frat Boy-in-Chief likes to remind us that the surplus is the “American people’s money” and, with his trademark smirk, he demands that it be returned to them. But what he fails to mention is that the national debt is also the American people’s debt — and it needs to be paid down.??






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