Those pesky taxes

I have been reading through the Bush budget. As you can imagine I am shocked to find that there is gambling going on here. Thank you for my winnings all the same.

The essentials of the budget have not changed. The most important piece is extending tax cuts. The miracle expected of the last tax cuts has not materialized for the majority of Americans. Job growth is historically low and real wages have declined for most Americans.

From tax cuts all other illusions flow.

You don’t have to pay the $1 to $2 trillion cost of the Iraq War. You can simply hide from it.

You can remove any possibility for creating a health care program that takes care of all Americans and nobody will care.

You can still buy all kinds of fancy defense do-dads that have nothing to do with fighting terrorism which is essentially a struggle for the minds of people.

You can pretend the ownership society is for one and all. Back in my day we called it a piggybank filled with pennies.

You can hope for a soft landing when the fiscal and international deficits unravel and adjust.

You can push national programs down to the state and local level and pretend that you have eliminated nonperforming programs.

You can donate your lawn clippings for alternative fuel sources.

With tax cuts you can go all kinds of places and see all kinds of marvels. Let’s get rid of all those pesky taxes once and for all. Let’s not miss out on a bargain. Sacks of shit are selling for half price.