No compromise on tax giveaways for the rich
Talk about a one hit wonder. Faced with ominous signs of impending recession, a situation virtually every expert agrees calls for short term stimulus, what’s the GOP’s response? Yup, tax cuts for the rich, the elixir that — to the right wing mind — cures every ailment.
The Republicans plan to take advantage of the fear of recession as an excuse for taking another run at making the Bush tax cuts permanent. You might ask what a tax cut extension that won’t even go into effect for several years can possibly have to do with providing short term stimulus to the economy. Fools! The answer, of course, is the exact same one that explains why attacking Iraq, a nation that had nothing to do with the Sept. 11 attacks, was the proper response to 9-11.
Because they so say, that’s why.
(NY Times) Pelosi Begins Discussions on Stimulus to Economy
WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi met on Monday with the Federal Reserve chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, to discuss potential action by Congress, the White House and the central bank to jump-start the economy and try to shorten the slowdown that many economists say has already begun to take hold.
But even as Ms. Pelosi renewed a call by Democratic leaders for cooperation with President Bush and Republicans in Congress, lawmakers in both parties said that efforts to develop a short-term stimulus plan could easily fall prey to partisan disputes like whether to extend Mr. Bush’s tax cuts of 2001 and 2003, which expire after 2010.
The Democrats are insisting that Republicans not inject their desire to extend the tax cuts into negotiations of a short-term rescue package intended to dampen the impact of a recession. But in interviews, several Republican lawmakers said they could not imagine a debate not involving long-term tax policy.
“The planning for 2010 in a business sense is happening now,” said Representative Dave Camp, Republican of Michigan. “So it isn’t too soon to talk about making permanent the Bush tax cuts.”
What this means, of course, as Paul Krugman notes on his blog, is that “Republicans will hold any attempt to help the economy now hostage to yet another try at making the Bush tax cuts permanent — thereby, among other things, crippling future possibilities for health care reform.”
So much for stimulus legislation — unless, of course, the Democrats in Congress cave again.
But don’t do it guys, please, not this time. Wholesale extension of the Bush tax cuts would be a disaster for the country, driving up the national debt while starving the treasury of funds desperately needed for domestic priorities — things like healthcare and education reform. Besides, the politics on this is 100 percent on the Democrats’ side.
The Democratic response to this latest example of Republican extortion should be, to borrow the words of that great former Republican mayor of Carmel, California, Clint Eastwood, to tell the GOP: “Go ahead, make our day.”
Come on Democrats, call their bluff. Let the Republicans squirrel a stimulus package made up of popular middle class spending and tax relief because they want to score a little more manna for their corporate overlords. Then go to the voters in November and let them decide where the blame for inaction lies.
January 17th, 2008 at 2:07 am
God only knows what those two spinless idiots, Pelosi and Reid will end up doing. I doubt that any measly stimulus package is going to stop the train wreck anyway. All the Repugs can think about is kissing up to the rich, to guarantee more campaign donations. They dont give a rat’s hairy heiney about the good of the country, the common good, or the middle class. They are determined to grab whatever they can get for themselves, then run off with the loot from their offshore accounts.They are thugs, charlatans, and thieves. The spineless Democrats are no better.The people in Washington can no longer see the forest for the trees. The debt burden on future generations doesnt faze them. They are out to get while the gettin’s good. They are all counting on their stash of ill-gotten gain to get them through hard times. Beyond that, it is politics as usual. They do NOT care about domestic priorities. They see those as inconsequential. They and their corporate fat cats have enough money to hire private security. They have enough money to weather the storm in some tropical paradise. They have enough money to live well and ignore the starving. THEY can afford to send their kids to private schools like Harvard, which have huge endowments. They can pay out of pocket for health care, if they have to, but their cushy congressional benefits package takes care of them very nicely. So, they do
not have to live in the real world they intend to leave behind. They have priorities, but it isnt to help save the economy, the environment, public education or show any genuine concern for the destruction they have caused .