A Voice From The Mountain.....

Oakhurst resident Alan Cheah speaks out today in the Fresno Bee about the duplicitous nature of Bush's tax cuts...

01/29/08 18:39:24

Tax cuts, tax cuts, tax cuts! In good times, when Bill Clinton left a $230 billion annual surplus, George W. Bush saw fit to cut taxes, mostly for those who didn't need it. In bad times, the looming recession in 2003, he cut taxes again.

Since then, he and Republican leaders sought to make tax cuts permanent. In the face of an economic meltdown triggered by the subprime lending fiasco, the solution again is a tax cut favoring big and medium businesses, while Democrats want the bulk of it to go to the middle class and poor. All this has contributed to a rise in the debt from $5.7 trillion in 2001 to $9.2 trillion today.

Have all the tax cuts since 2001 made you solvent? Have they changed your financial situation structurally or just provide a fleeting moment of relief? Why are Republicans such tax-cut opportunists -- because a few hundred dollars easily buys your vote, while tens of thousands are being funneled to their rich donor class of individuals and corporations?

If you buy the argument that they deserve more because they pay more, read "Perfectly Legal" and "Free Lunch" by David Cay Johnston. You will be enraged.

Alan Cheah

Oakhurst

I think one other reason for the fixation on tax cuts by the Republicans is that it feeds into their traditional concept of smaller government. However, with their huge budget deficits under Bush, I would say that if the Republicans of the early 1970's were a glass of milk, then today's group is that thin coating in the glass once you have finished drinking it!! Bush is actually the perfect leader for a party that has lost its way as badly as today's Republicans.