Another Form of Bribery

[[H U H ?]] * This is simply unbelievable. With the United States now running record budget deficits, hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars being flushed down the black hole of Iraq, and the prez seemingly incapable of vetoing even a single spending bill sent to him by his weak-spined Republican water carriers, Congress is now proposing to further bankrupt the country? From The Washington Post:

President Bush and congressional Republicans agreed yesterday on a $70 billion package of tax-cut extensions that they hope will help halt the deterioration of their political fortunes.

The package would extend the 2003 cuts to the tax rates on dividends and capital gains, continue tax breaks for small-business investment and the overseas operations of financial service companies, and slow the expansion of the alternative minimum tax, a parallel income tax system that was enacted to target the rich but is increasingly snaring the middle class.

But the agreement cannot come to a vote until House and Senate negotiators agree on a second piece of legislation containing many of the proposed tax breaks left out of the compromise, according to legislative aides. And the compromise is sure to spark a new round of recriminations from Democrats, who say the Republican Party continues to favor wealthy investors over lower- and middle-income workers, without regard to a budget deficit that is expected to reach $370 billion this year.

Of course, Democrats and any other halfway conscious Americans should be criticizing this GOP plan. The very idea that Republicans are willing to toss the nation into the economic crapper for their own short-term political gain ought to make clear just how shameless this bunch is. And that serious changes are in order. As the saying goes, “Had Enough? Vote Democratic!”