It is interesting to compare the tax relief strategies between Bush and Kerry, ther is no plan for simplification at the Kerry site.
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I asked this before, and never got an answer, so I'll ask it again:
Exactly WHEN should we start to pay for all of this?
Exactly WHO should be paying the bulk of it?
And exactly HOW are we going to make that happen?
1&2) it pays for itself through lower spending and increased revenues via lower tax rates which would begin during the next budegtary cycle. I freely admit that the Bush administration has a piss poor record of controlling spending even considering the extenuating circumstances. Governments have historically had great trouble with this and the reasons for it go far beyond a single president, perhaps we can adress that another day. I am, however, unwilling to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
As to the "how" I think I addressed that already, did I not?
The difference you and I have seems to be the "how" You think taxing the rich will somehow give you immunity but we both know, form a historical perspective that it has never been the case.
I find the Bush approach to be not only the more reasonable on but also the one that has been proven to work.
In this season of political debate it is easy to forget where the real spending occurs. The president submits a budget and the legislature rips it apart then rebuilds it until it more closely resembles Frankenstiens monster than a real budget, the ultimate power resides not with the president but with the house and senate appropritations commitees.
Here's how it works;
February
President submits recommended budget to Congress in early part of the month. Both parties use the event as an opportunity to trash the other person and push their own agenda.
April 15
Congress fails, as it almost always does, to pass a budget resolution. A budget resolution is supposed to set the big picture goals, but it doesn't have any teeth and doesn't have the force of a law - the President doesn't have to sign it. Instead of doing the budget resolution as required by law, Congress passes a bunch of other bills that say, in other words, taxes suck. (They fail to acknowledge that taxes are paying for them to be able to stand up and say taxes suck.)
May
Congress finally passes the aforementioned virtually meaningless budget resolution with all kinds of instructions that the committee with real power, the Appropriations Committee, will ignore.
June and July
The House and the Senate pass as many of the 13 Appropriations bills as they are able. (For more information about the 13 bills, check out the 54 Kings page.) The real key is to see how many they have passed by the time Congress takes its annual summer break in August.
August Recess
After a week where they say they will tackle lots of thorny issues, but really put them all off until September, the House and Senate leave town for a month-long recess.
September 31
Fiscal year runs out with some work left undone. Congress passes a law which says, "Hey, we need just a little more time to figure out the rest of the budget." They repeat this until they actually get their work done. In 1999 they did this seven times.
Late September and October
Finally, Congress gets down to brass tacks, real negotiations happen, and agreements get ironed out. Whether it's through original 13 spending bills, or a giant bill where they combine a bunch of the bills that haven't been passed, the Congress and the President finally agree on the budget for the year.
October
After passing the last appropriations bill, Congress adjourns for the year. All the big issues they didn't get to will just have to wait until the next Congress.
So you see that any anger regarding spending that is directed at the president is pretty much a waste of time.
Want a proper budeget? get the president line item veto power.
oh, and my source for that lesson is: http://www.yourcongress.com/ Everyone who is engaged in this process should have a look at the site.
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