"Never before have so few with so much promised to take away so much from so many and then laugh their asses off as the so many with so little vote for the so few with so much." A James Pence Quote
"American Politics, a sport for the rich and enslavement for the rest of us." A James Pence Quote
Most of us can agree lower taxes, less government spending and a balanced budget are honorable things to strive for and some of us are serious about achieving that.
I wish I could believe the American Conservative Right Wing, that includes both Democrats and Republicans, is serious about lower taxes, less government spending and a balanced budget, but the evidence leads me to another conclusion, and when I hear political rhetoric about lower taxes, less government spending and a balanced budget I understand it for what it is. Rhetoric...
It's easy to sell tax cuts to the American people and we found out just how easy that was in 2001.
Gallup The poll --conducted this past weekend, May 18-20, 2001 shows that by a margin of 67% to 27%, Americans favor rather than oppose a substantial tax cut. And by an even larger margin, 73% to 19%, Americans say that if the tax cut is enacted, Bush will have fulfilled his campaign pledge on this issue. Moreover, more than eight in 10 Americans believe that enactment of the tax cut will reflect favorably on Bush -- 49% say it would be a major accomplishment, and another 33% say it would be a minor accomplishment. Only 15% say it would not represent an accomplishment at all.
According to Citizens For Tax Justice the Bush tax cuts (this also includes the 2003 tax cut that we will address later in this post) reduced tax revenues $2.5 trillion.
Newly revised estimates from Citizens for Tax Justice show that the Bush tax cuts cost almost $2.5 trillion over the decade after they were first enacted (2001-2010).
On July 10, 2001, two months before the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, then-CIA Director George J. Tenet met with his counterterrorism chief, J. Cofer Black, at CIA headquarters to review the latest on Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist organization. Black laid out the case, consisting of communications intercepts and other top-secret intelligence showing the increasing likelihood that al-Qaeda would soon attack the United States.
Congress got busy and Senator Tom Daschle and Rep. Dick Armey sponsored S.J.RES.23 titled: To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States. 9/14/2001 11:17pm House of Representatives: Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 420 - 1. 9/14/2001: Submitted in the Senate, considered, and agreed to without amendment and with a preamble by Yea-Nay Vote. 98 - 0. 9/18/2001: Signed by President. 9/18/2001: Became Public Law No: 107-40 and we were off to war in Afghanistan.
CNN October 07, 2001 President Bush, addressing the nation shortly after 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday, said the newly launched air campaign against al Qaeda terrorist camps and Taliban military installations near the key cities of Kabul and Kandahar, Afghanistan, opened a new front in the war against international terrorism."On my order, U.S. forces have begun strikes on terrorist camps of al Qaeda, and the military installations of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan," Bush said in a somber address from the White House Treaty Room. The air assaults, he said, were joined by Great Britain, with assorted intelligence efforts and logistical support from several other nations.
As you can see by the Roll Call votes the politicians were on board for this war and so was most of America and we still had a $127 billion budget surplus. America was in a patriotic mood and ready to get even, but not patriotic enough to resist more tax cuts, and pay for a war with another war in the works and on the horizon.
George W. Bush was having his way. The American people were in a tax cutting patriotic mood and George W. Bush was ready to manipulate them.
"In 1991, the Iraqi regime agreed to destroy and stop developing all weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles, and to prove to the world it has done so by complying with rigorous inspections. Iraq has broken every aspect of this fundamental pledge."
2003 George W. Bush fearing the 2001 recession was not recovering fast enough pushed for more tax cuts. He wanted to, reduce the maximum tax rate on long-term capital gains from 20% to 15%, reduce the tax rate on qualified dividends from the personal tax rate to a max of 15%, accelerate many of the provisions in EGTRRA, which were supposed to be phased in more gradually and increased tax deductions for small businesses. This time around Bush would find his tax cut proposals a little less popular and a little tougher to get through Congress.
Gallup May 9, 2003 When asked specifically about the tax cuts Bush is proposing, 52% say they are a good idea at this time, while 41% say they are a bad idea. In just about two weeks, opinion has shifted on this issue. An April 22-23 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll showed Americans, by a 47% to 42% margin, saying the tax cuts were a bad idea.
Remember the 2001 tax cuts had 67% approval, but the American people were still in favor of more tax cuts even though we were at war with Afghanistan and Iraq and the budget was now in the Red. Congress was also in the mood for more tax cuts and put up a weak fight to stop them. When I say weak, I mean the folks supposedly against the tax cuts didn't use the Senate filibuster and let Vice President Dick Cheney cast the deciding vote on the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003. The tax cut passed: 5/23/2003: Presented to President. 5/28/2003: Signed by President. 5/28/2003: Became Public Law No: 108-27. A tax cut while we are at war with Afghanistan and Iraq. How patriotic is that and there's more.
Act Section 102: Capital Gains And Dividend Rates The Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (“JGTRRA”) reduced the capital gains and dividend income tax rates from 10 percent and 20 percent to five percent and 15 percent, respectively, through 2008. TIPRA extends the lower rates for two years. Effective Date: Taxable years beginning after December 31, 2008. Sunset: Taxable years beginning after December 31, 2010.
This law cut taxes for the wealthy and extended them until December 31, 2010.
Newly revised estimates from Citizens for Tax Justice show that the Bush tax cuts cost almost $2.5 trillion over the decade after they were first enacted (2001-2010).
# US military spending accounts for 46.5 percent, or almost half, of the world’s total military spending US military spending is 7 times more than China, 13 times more than Russia, and 73 times more than Iran. US military spending is some 44 times the spending on the six “rogue” states (Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) whose spending amounts to around $16 billion. US spending is more than the next top 14 countries at least. The United States and its strongest allies (the NATO countries, Japan, South Korea and Australia) spend something in the region of $1.1 trillion on their militaries combined, representing 72 percent of the world’s total. The six potential “enemies,” Russia, and China together account for about $169 billion or 24% of the US military budget
If you've managed to read to this point you're aware that I've stuck to the facts with little or no editorial comments, but that's going to stop here. Heath Care and military expenditures are the elephants in the room. When it comes to these two things we're out of sync with the rest of the world and, I believe, the real reason we're in this fiscal mess.
It appears to me the American people love lower taxes, love to fight wars and don't mind putting their children and grandchildren in debt and I consider that greedy, selfish and unpatriotic. This mess were in was made by you and history will hold you accountable. My American conscience is clear! I knew it was all bullshit from the get go!
