(Note: That's a quote from actor Bradley Whitford, formerly of "The West Wing," on "Real Time With Bill Maher" a couple of years ago - referring to the Repugs, of course.)U.S. News and World Report's Gloria Borger says the following (from here, in yet another "oh God the Dems are having another hissy fit even though the congressional Repugs did this for years and we ignored it" column)...
If there were eight years in which to spend the money, it might be different. But the new administration is looking for what he describes as "a very quick jolt -- and that's hard to do without a combination of things."Fair enough - I'll do my best.
Do the corporate tax cuts help to bring in some GOP votes? Sure. But please explain why there is something wrong with that.
It's because tax cuts don't do a damn thing to stimulate the economy, that's why. They end up as saved income in the pockets of the investor class.
But don't take my word for it. Listen to Paul Krugman, who tells us from here that...
...there’s a reasonable economic case for including a significant amount of tax cuts in the (Obama stimulus) package, mainly in year one.And as noted above, you have the antics of Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao here, calling for a tax cuts on the "middle class" which for them is anyone who is a multi-millionaire (h/t Media Matters).
But the numbers being reported — 40 percent of the whole, two-year plan — sound high. And all the news reports say that the high tax-cut share is intended to assuage Republicans; what this presumably means is that this was the message the off-the-record Obamanauts were told to convey.
And that’s bad news.
Look, Republicans are not going to come on board. Make 40% of the package tax cuts, they’ll demand 100%. Then they’ll start the thing about how you can’t cut taxes on people who don’t pay taxes (with only income taxes counting, of course) and demand that the plan focus on the affluent. Then they’ll demand cuts in corporate taxes. And Mitch McConnell is already saying that state and local governments should get loans, not aid — which would undermine that part of the plan, too.
If ANY Democrat doesn't know by now that trying to sign on to a Repug scheme masquerading as anything but what it is (namely, yet another attack on the vast majority of working men and women and families in this country) is a bet for suckers, then they never will (though I'm sure Obama does; if by some miracle over time he can lead us to better days, rest assured that the Repugs and their acolytes in the media will give him credit for absolutely nothing).
Update 1/22/09: And oh yes, Borger was so "spot-on" here also, wasn't she?
2 comments:
Is the handwriting on the wall?
Will the next 4 years be one of obstructionist government between the repugs and the dems?
I so can't stand these people.
The citizens elected O based on his proposals. Checks and balances are one thing, outright obstructionism in a power struggle is destructive. How bad does it have to get before the citizens start getting angry and vocal? Will it take bread lines?
I think you hit on the two big questions: 1) Though a lot of people in this country are attuned to what’s going on and are involved more than ever before, there are still way too many more concerned with whether or not Angelina Jolie is going to have another baby and isn’t it a shame Heath Ledger is dead and “The Dark Knight” is winning all those awards (not trying to trivialize his tragic death, and yes, he was great, but somehow, with the destruction wrought to our economy and way of life, we have MUCH bigger issues at the moment); and 2) How many of those people are going to get with the program and, instead of worrying about what’s on “Access Hollywood” or some damn “reality” TV show, are going to pick up that phone and call Sen. Mr. Elaine Chao, Corker, DeMint, Cornyn, Chambliss and those other obstructionist idiots instead and tell them to stop f*cking around with the future of this country (of course, that would also mean realizing that they’ve been hoodwinked by The Sainted Ronnie R., among others, which I’m sure is too much for many people to bear – hell, Corker had no problem letting about 10 percent of our economy wither and die, with nary a word of rebuke from any Senate Dem, which was truly nauseating).
On a wholly other note (as long as I’m leaving this comment), I should note that posting is a huge question mark at this moment due to other job developments…I have no idea from moment to moment if I’ll be able to do anything else besides put up videos. I don’t know how far this will go into the future at this moment, but I’ll do what I can.
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