Our Big Democrat-In-Chief Has Some Goodies For You
George Bush calls for welfare for regular people, in the form of a tax rebate (and other measures), in hopes of propping up the nosediving economy -- the economy sent into a nosedive by all the sleazebag loans given to poor people who could never dream of paying them off, bank credit default swaps, and the one-or-two-trillion-dollar debt for Iraq, to name a few. From a Maura Reynolds story in the LA Times:
Stepping out as the standard-bearer for an economic rescue, President Bush called Friday for about $150 billion in tax rebates and other measures designed to be a "shot in the arm" for the flagging economy.The president, who was out of the country for much of the last two weeks as bad news on the economy piled up, returned to the policy forefront by calling for an even larger plan than the $100-billion initiative being discussed in Congress.
"This growth package must be big enough to make a difference in an economy as large and dynamic as ours," the president said at the White House, flanked by his top economic advisors and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Bush provided few details of what he thought the package should contain. Instead, he laid out "principles" that included an emphasis on tax incentives for businesses, which congressional Democrats have already said they would accept, and opposition to tax increases, which Democrats have indicated are off the table.
The centerpiece of the emerging plan appears to be a one-time tax cut -- paid as a cash rebate this year -- of $800 per taxpayer, or $1,600 for a couple filing jointly. Rebates of that size would total about $100 billion. Officials hope they would spur consumer spending and economic growth.
The remaining measures are likely to be a mix of tax incentives designed to encourage business expansion along with cash relief for the unemployed and needy, who would be likely to spend the money immediately, stimulating growth.
My problem with the nutter party (the Republicans) is that few of them seem to be actual conservatives -- fiscal conservatives like me -- they just label themselves that because of their retrograde way of looking at the world through Jesus-colored glasses.
I was listening to Tammy Bruce taking over for Al Rantel on the radio last night on my way to a party and I heard her say, to my surprise (but earning my respect), that she's "a Reagan Democrat." She explained that she could never call herself a Republican as long as the Republicans are the party that wants to tell a woman she can't have autonomy over her own body. I'm with you, sistah.
As I keep asking, whatever happened to the real conservatives? Classical liberals, I mean. Yoohooo, you guys all sleeping? Because we could use some solid fiscal policy and the Republicans only pretend to be against the handouts-as-government the Democrats are openly for, which is part of what got us into this economic mess in the first place.