Posted on 03/25/2002 2:04:25 AM PST by JohnHuang2
This is true in the fact that he allowed many, many liberal bills to become law as well as breaking many campaign promises like they all do. But, you also have to add the disclaimer that all Presidents have to deal with the politics of their office and it's give and take. Too bad many here don't understand this?
As for our dues to the UN, they're just that, dues to be part of a club. No tax there, either.
So true, unfortunately. (I'm still ticked about HR1885,though, even though I am a certified Bushbot.)
There's no way to argue that W could manage Congress the way Reagan did. The tax cuts passed with Reagan there to sign them haven't been repeated. W's shell game tax cut will amount to diddly in the end, as everyone who got a refund from the IRS will find out. That $600 check comes right off the top of a refund. W will be history before any of it that amounts to much will come due and Congress will scrap it all as soon as he's back in Crawford pretending to be a rancher again.
He is empowered to make treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate, not to tell a bunch of penniless con artists that he'll hand them $5 billion dollars. Bush doesn't have that authority unless he's talking about his own money. I doubt he has that kind of money, myself.
Oh, the subject you raised, not the subject of the article. ok
As for {{giving}} aid being Constitutional, I don't know, never thought about. But either way, our voluntary gifts or loans to other nations and our club dues to the UN are NOT taxes. Lecture over.
Hope I keep reading stories that start like that, particularly on NOV 7-8!
The "Millennium Challenge Account" described by George W. Bush is a new account of new money to be given gratis (i.e., not a loan) by United States taxpayers to unspecified-in-advance underdeveloped nations through the United Nations, and is on top of UN dues and other expenses already paid by the U. S.
Does anyone think a single underdeveloped nation has to demonstrate "reform" before more U. S. taxpayers' money is extracted and poured into the "Millennium Challenge Account" for the UN?
Does anyone think that the most destitute nations in Africa which do NOT reform themselves because they are run by ruthless dictators who don't care a whit for their subjects will be satisfied when they get NO MONEY from the U. S.?
Since most of the underdeveloped countries are that way because they are under lawless dictators and their plantation serfs have no experience with and no conception of democratic government, there is absolutely NO CHANCE that these nations will undergo genuine reform.
Does anyone think that all the people in the UN who hate the U. S. will be content with a "Millennium Challenge Account" set-up controlled SOLELY by the U. S.?
That, simply, is not the way the UN works.
But meanwhile the American people are being brainwashed into thinking we "have to give more money to the UN".
And all the countries that already want more formal global taxation will continue their agitation for this as strongly as ever.
There is no way to make a valid comparison between Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush when it comes to tax cuts. Reagan was dealing with income tax rates that were very high, which meant that the government would easily generate additional revenue by cutting the top rates. When the rates are low (relatively speaking), the positive impact of cutting them (in terms of generating higher revenue) isn't so certain. It should also be noted that cutting tax rates is NOT the same as cutting taxes. The 1986 tax reform reduced the income tax rates and simplified the tax brackets, but it also included the elimination of many tax deductions. Ironically, overall personal Federal taxes (per capita, including all taxes) were probably higher when Reagan left office in 1988 than they were in 1981.
Because tax rates in the U.S. are probably close to the ideal tax rates (again, in terms of generating the maximum amount of revenue), the only real tax "reform" you will find these days amounts to nothing more than encouraging certain types of personal behavior or encouraging certain financial transactions. What do you think has driven the growth of IRAs and 401(k) plans over the last decade?
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