A bush babble point that's been bothering me for a few weeks...

[0rganism]

First I have to admit that when I heard bush say it, my brain rejected it outright. It made no sense. Why would he say such a bass-ackwards thing? There was no logical handle by which to connect it to the overall structure of concepts, and my mind wanted to gloss right over it to something more sensible. But it now stands out quite clearly as an unresolved dissonance, and I realize it's been irking me for a while.

Here's the quote -- and he's repeated it often enough to make it a talking point, of sorts: "Be careful of these folks who travel around the country making all these big promises, and say, oh, don't worry, we'll pay for it by taxing the rich. You know how that goes. The rich hires accountants and lawyers and you get stuck with the bill."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040817-6.html

OK, this is absolutely excoriable on several levels, and I think it merits its own TV ad.

1) bush outright admits that the tax code is gamed by the wealthy -- I'm certainly willing to agree with him on this, but...
2) rather than offer legislation ammending the tax code to ensure that the wealthy pay their fair share, bush proposes continued tax cutting -- INSANITY! What the hell is he thinking?
3) bush's tax cuts benefit, primarily, the extremely wealthy -- according to the CBO study, the tax burden has shifted significantly from the upper to the middle brackets since 2001, as the bulk of the giveaways are in unearned income tax cuts

So not only does he misrepresent the purpose of a progressive tax structure (and sufficiently so or not, the FIT was at least somewhat progressive during the '90s), he manages to gloatingly sell his audience on the idea of the rich continuing to game the tax code. This is so counterintuitive that my poor brain couldn't digest it at first. The more I think about it, though, the more this seems like a liability that should be used as a bludgeon by the 527s to whack his smirking ass all the way back to Crawford. It's hugely inconsistent, very immoral, and should be a slam-dunk for the Kerry squad.

Of course, it's too much to ask that the whore media address this issue frankly, so we leave it up to the Kerry campaign and associated organizations to make this point. BUT IT SHOULD BE MADE, repeatedly.

[mr_hat]

1. He's just a guy you'd have a beer with.

[0rganism]

14. Well, I might throw a beer at him

Why do the republicans harp on how nice it'd be to have a beer with him when they know he's a "recovering" alcoholic who shouldn't be anywhere near beer?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

2. Actually he first said this weeks ago, but has been REPEATING it on

the campaign trail, so obviously it's an INTENDED talking point that they are not even ashamed of. The first time he said something like "You know how the rich is, they have accountants. And you know what that means--they dodge, you pay!"

So mind boggling it defies description. Basically acknowledging that the system favors the rich (which he and Dick are), and that we're not going to do anything to change it!

Needs to be hit HARD by the campaign. I had been meaning to post about this, the third time or so I saw him say it on TV but I forgot. Thanks for reminding me with this post!

[annabanana]

3. and people smoke pot anyway......

might as well do away with THOSE laws too!

[0rganism]

5. Your onto something: a crime analogy might be a good way to illustrate it.

especially since this is damn near criminal behavior to begin with.

"Most felons only serve a fraction of their sentences, so we'll just have reduced sentences for felons."

[0rganism]

4. I have the same problem! I forget it too, I even WANT to forget it

> I had been meaning to post about this, the third time or so
> I saw him say it on TV but I forgot.

It's so blatantly repulsive, it begs to be forgotten. It's like the "Somebody Else's Problem Field" from the Hitchhiker's Guide series, where something can be made invisible by simply being too ridiculous for the rational mind to deal with. I can only presume that the people applauding this line are either

1) rich jerks who understand the underlying code quite well or
2) "ordinary" people getting reamed by his policies who can't comprehend what he's saying and just like the way he talks

How can anyone sobre approve of what bush is suggesting?!?!

[bobbieinok]

13. I think bushco wants us to think 'Kerry rich, Edwards a lawyer' THEY

'weasel out'

B/C just 'good ole boys aranching and kicking back with a beer'

[A_Possum]

6. He's floating a flat tax

He wants to spread the idea that we should get rid of accountants and all just pay a flat rate. Wouldn't that be cool?


(Personal admission: I was once in favor of a flat tax, about 20 years ago when shelters were running so rampant that everything was screwy and just filling out a 1040 was making me crazy. Took me awhile to figure out how unfair that would be. So I have to admit that it isn't self-evident ro everyone that a progressive tax is a good thing. Younger people may need to be educated in how cruelly regressive flat taxes like sales tax etc can be.)

[seabeyond]

7. i hear a lot of people go to a flat tax

dont realize that per dollar the poorer person is being taxed more in reality. rich people would love a flat tax

[0rganism]

10. Yeah, let him float that idea during the debates, he'll get flayed alive

I do believe he bounced that one around during a talk once, and his press team had to spin like mad to get him out of it. It'd be a pleasure to see Sen. Kerry step on the flat tax cockroach.

"Mr. Bush wants me to save $70,000 per year on income taxes! Now that's a very nice gesture, but I'd rather shift the burden of taxation back to people like myself and away from the middle classes who form the backbone of the consumer economy..."

[stevedeshazer]

8. Economic terrorism

Bush* acknowledges that the tax cuts benefit the rich; even more importantly, he acknowledges that we should be somehow GRATEFUL that these cuts are doing such a great job stimulating the economy and creating jobs, even though by every measure the U.S. is losing jobs at an alarming and unsustainable rate.

I don't think there is any question that the Bush Crime Family and all their associated criminal hangers-on intend to run the deficit up so high that the federal government goes bankrupt, then every state and local juridiction is next. Then who do Joe Sixpack and his wife and kids depend on for sustenance?

Economic terrorism.

I hate these bastards.

[elperromagico]

9. If Bush believes the rich dodge their taxes, why not raise their rate

to 99% and test the theory? :P

[Bernardo de La Paz]

11. Bush advocates laying back and accepting tax rape.

[shockingelk]

12. "soft bigotry"

Not expecting the government to enforce out tax laws is the soft bigotry of low expectations.

[oasis]

15. I too, was puzzeled by that statement. Bush's "too cute by half" swagger

is what will cost him in the end.