Posted on 05/01/2003 3:09:45 AM PDT by kcordell
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 5/1/03
Tax cut woos Greediest Generation
The president's proposed $726 billion tax cut is not an economic policy. It is a crass appeal to greed, pitched to a nation conditioned to believe that greed is not a vice but a downright virtue.
And that's just the beginning of the deceptions and distortions being used to sell this policy.
The money that the tax cut would allegedly "return" to the taxpayer never came from the taxpayer in the first place. Every penny that taxpayers send to the federal government is spent by the federal government.
So how is it possible to "return" what has already been spent? The same dollar cannot be spent twice. The myth of "return" is a fiction, a cover story, concocted to soothe what little conscience we have left about such matters.
In reality, we're going to borrow all of that $727 billion or $550 billion or whatever the final figure ends up to be. We will pocket the proceeds, then dump the obligation of paying it back onto children who are not yet old enough to shave or wear makeup, or who haven't even been born yet.
It will be an involuntary, intergenerational transfer of wealth, taken from our kids and grandkids without their knowledge or permission. And all so we can buy nice things for ourselves.
Here's how fast our national debt -- more accurately, our children's and grandchildren's debt -- is piling up: Just a year ago, the legal ceiling for federal debt was an enormous $5.95 trillion. Congress then voted to raise it to $6.4 trillion. By the end of this month, they will vote to raise it yet again, to $7.38 trillion.
Or at least the Senate will vote. The House, which is lusting to cast votes for the biggest tax cut possible, had neither the guts nor the decency to take a vote on the debt ceiling. House leaders arranged to have it increased automatically upon approval of the budget.
$7,380,000,000,000.
And a third of that sum will be owed to foreign investors.
The fact that this latest tax cut comes in time of war is particularly shameful. The defeat of Saddam Hussein and the liberation of the Iraqi people have allowed us to feel good about ourselves, to believe that we too are brave and strong and ready to sacrifice for freedom and liberty and justice for all, just like our parents and grandparents who lived through World War II and are now passing from the scene.
But to the Greatest Generation, sacrifice was not merely a word bandied about to make them feel better about themselves. They actually tried to pay for their war themselves, raising wartime taxes to sky-high levels.
But the Greediest Generation, unlike any wartime generation in the history of this country, is actually starving government of revenue in its time of need. Yes, we love our smart bombs and MOABs and M-1 tanks and stealth fighters; we revel in the power they give us. But not enough to actually pay for them.
The $79 billion cost of the war so far has simply been added to the tab.
Here's another deception used to justify our greed: The tax cut will prod the economy out of its doldrums.
In reality, economists are all but unanimous in stating that this tax cut will have very little short-term effect, but adding to the deficit will actually harm the economy in the future. This week, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan reiterated what he told Congress in February: Do not pass any tax cut that further increases the federal deficit.
But hey, what does he know?
There is, however, a deeper logic behind this policy, a logic never uttered by elected politicians but suggested often in the right-wing think tanks and magazines that set this administration's agenda. It goes like this: Putting the federal government deep into hock will eventually force it to abandon the social programs that conservatives abhor, but that most Americans support as legitimate government functions.
In other words, this is a con game, and we're the pigeons. If we fall for the scam, we will fall for the same reason that every mark ever fell for a con:
Greed.
E-Mail: Jay Bookman
Huh? Santa Clause then?
Sorta like my ex-wife's logic. My money was "ours", her money was "hers".
Oh no, he's discovered our nefarious scheme! /sarcasm
Will someone send him a copy of Hayek's "road to Serfdom"!
He probably also doesn't know that our progressive tax code is based on the "Communist Manifesto" but I'm sure he has a copy of that somewhere.
So what part of making the marriage penalty permanent, and increasing the deductions for children are wrong to him? Not to mention the reduction of rates and making them permanent as well and moving them forward. IF JFK's tax cut, which was 3% of GDP, was good for the county then this one is as well at a paltry 1%.
The Dem's frog is being boiled slowly and I think they know it and they are scared. When GWB wants to make the elimination of the death tax permanent and eliminate the double taxation on dividends because as they have been saying it should only be taxed "Once at the Source" can any of you tell me were they are goin with this?
Except for you people in West Palm Beach and Reolinda that is correct, a flat tax. We would almost be there, except for making all the rates one rate. It is also just a matter of time before all the Gucci wearing K street types form banking and brokerage houses are screaming to eliminate the double taxation on there investment vehicles since the dividend thing is unfair for competion as well. You got to hand it to GWB and company, they have out-foxed the Dem's big time, we are potentially on the road to the elimination of class warfare as one of there arrows in there quiver to sling at us.
Can't be Santa. By the time he left I had spent all my cash and added to the credit cards.
Cupid ended up costing me a bundle.
The Easter Bunny didn't even leave me an egg.
That leaves the "Tooth Fairy" 'cause the Thanksgiving Turkey ain't gonna like us too much.
The government should be focused on cutting costs to pay for tax cuts. The Bush administration is having it both ways and it just will not work.
The Democrats are going to be all over this thing between now and November 2004.
Repeat after me: When Clinton left office we had trillions in projected revenue to pay down the national debt. The Bush administration squandered that within 2 years and is now borrowing from Peter's son to pay Peter.
Nuts.
Versus extortion. Put me down for category "A"
Wonder if the author has ever written anything about the greedy folks who abort their babies? And how can they see greed in a negative light - what moral authority are they basing that judgement on?
If his writing is anything to go by, better send Bookman the Cliff Notes version...
So, Mr. Bookman, where do you stand on the partial privatization of Social Security? Were you impressed with Al Gore's "lock box"? Where do you stand on deficit spending and federal budgets that grow much faster than the inflation rate (and population rate)?
Do you realize, Mr. Bookman, that $350 billion in lower tax revenue represents approximately .3% of the projected GDP for the next ten years. If the growth rate of the economy benefits by, on average, a tiny fraction, this "tax cut" will pay for itself within this same 10 year time frame. Oh, and Mr. Bookman: the result of this tax package will mean a shift of the tax burden EVEN MORE onto the backs of the top tax payers (the top 1%, the top 5%, the top 10%). Unless you are a highly partisan Democrat, you should be thrilled by the prospect of all of these things.
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