Saturday, May 20, 2006

Borrow and Spend

Today is Saturday, 20 May 2006.

President Bush and the Republican Party are this week celebrating sticking the USE (United States Empire) with a $70 billion tax hike.

But wait: Doesn’t the Republican Party tout itself as the party of tax cuts, not hikes?

Depends on your generation and income level. According to a nonpartisan study, if you earn $30,000 a year or less, you might see a $9 savings. If you make $1 million or more, wallow in a $40,000 plus rebate. In any case, just "charge it" to future generations.

It’s said that Democratic Party policy is “tax and spend.” This is fiscally responsible: choose to spend money, come up with the cash.

Since at least the days of Reagan, who burdened future generations with $1.4 trillion in debt, Republican Party policy has been borrow and spend: “put it on the card.” Bush and the GOP have overspent the Federal revenues by $1.1 trillion and counting, in five years, borrowing like there's no tomorrow.

Much of this money is borrowed by selling Treasury securities to the government of the People’s Republic of China. Those low prices on the “Made in China” goods which flood Wal-Mart, etc. are made possible by this borrowing, which in turn enables the American public to drown in credit debt, achieve a net savings rate of virtually zero, and spend, spend, spend.

Now ain’t that a caution: the Walton family and BushCo are making their profits on the Commies’ dime!

The Republican policy, “live high on the hog and screw our kids with the check”, is short-sighted, immoral, and fiscally-irresponsible.
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During a late session Wednesday night, Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL) made a stunning claim on the House floor:

“Well, folks, if you earn $40,000 a year and have a family of two children, you don’t pay any taxes. So you probably, if you don’t pay any taxes, you are not going to get a very big tax cut.”

While someone with a $40,000 salary and a family of four paid little or no federal income taxes last year, Hastert ignores various other taxes paid by all Americans — payroll taxes, gas taxes, sales taxes, etc.

Consider payroll taxes, which go to paying for Social Security and Medicare. Assuming their entire $40,000 in salary came from wages, this family paid $3,060 (7.65 percent of $40,000) in federal payroll taxes last year.

[from Think Progress, 17 May 2006]

[Note: Hastert’s salary is $212,010 a year.]

1 Comments:

Blogger HH said...

Truth be told, your author hadn't thought of United and Subject States of Ameica (USSA). Tip of the beret to RTR for perceptiveness. Think I will adopt usage "USE/USSA".

I do not deny the USE/USSA has done some good. Normatively, the good has been done for itself, and by way of doing good by doing well.

I do deny that any amount of good-doing can expunge or counterbalance the holocaust visited upon Native Americans, the holocaust of African-American slavery, the genocidal war against Indochina, etc.

Consider Daniel 5:25-28.

9:05 AM  

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