Republican Deja Vu
Apr 16th, 2008 at 7:53 am by Susie
How many times will these Charlie Brown voters fall for the strategies of the Lucy Republicans?
Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, spoke at length about those economic hardships and suggested he might well break with the economic policies of President Bush and former President Ronald Reagan. “It will not be enough to simply dust off the economic policies of four, eight or 28 years ago,” he said in the speech, at Carnegie Mellon University. “We have our own work to do.”
But a major component of his economic plan — like those of Presidents Bush and Reagan — centered on tax cuts. Besides making the Bush income tax cuts permanent and reducing corporate taxes to 25 percent from 35 percent, Mr. McCain called for eliminating the alternative minimum tax and doubling the value of exemptions for dependents to $7,000 from $3,500, among other recommendations. He also proposed giving taxpayers the option of filing a simpler, shorter tax form each year than is available now.
Mr. McCain even called for cutting one tax before the Republican National Convention, let alone the election: he urged Congress to suspend the 18.4-cent-a-gallon federal gas tax from this Memorial Day until Labor Day. He said doing so would provide “an immediate economic stimulus,” but such plans have gained little traction recently in Congress, and some environmentalists fear such a cut would encourage more people to use their cars at a time when Mr. McCain has made combating global warming a central theme of his campaign.
Of course! Tax cuts are the snake oil cure-all of the Republican party, and voters keep falling for it. Let’s see if they fall for it this time.
yes, tax cuts are important, but they are only ONE facet of their TWO faceted policy toolbox!
domestic policy?
tax cuts
foreign policy?
bomb them
Tax cuts are a red herring. Taxes will have to go up to pay the bill for Bush’s war. McSame promises tax cuts because it has a nice ring to it, and it’s fooled people before. The credit crunch will hit the borrow and spend Republicans, just like it’s hitting consumers all over the globe.
What are we supposed to tell China when we can’t pay the next installment? That’s going to be one ugly foreclosure. Or, maybe they won’t want it, with all the bridges falling down and all of the fishing grounds destroyed.