perfidy

Folks, even Warren Buffett thinks the tax cut is a bad idea. Warren Buffett!! To wit:

Overall, it's hard to conceive of anything sillier than the schedule the Senate has laid out. Indeed, the first President Bush had a name for such activities: "voodoo economics." The manipulation of enactment and sunset dates of tax changes is Enron-style accounting, and a Congress that has recently demanded honest corporate numbers should now look hard at its own practices. 

Proponents of cutting tax rates on dividends argue that the move will stimulate the economy. A large amount of stimulus, of course, should already be on the way from the huge and growing deficit the government is now running. I have no strong views on whether more action on this front is warranted. But if it is, don't cut the taxes of people with huge portfolios of stocks held directly. (Small investors owning stock held through 401(k)s are already tax-favored.) Instead, give reductions to those who both need and will spend the money gained. Enact a Social Security tax "holiday" or give a flat-sum rebate to people with low incomes. Putting $1,000 in the pockets of 310,000 families with urgent needs is going to provide far more stimulus to the economy than putting the same $310 million in my pockets. 

When you listen to tax-cut rhetoric, remember that giving one class of taxpayer a "break" requires -- now or down the line -- that an equivalent burden be imposed on other parties. In other words, if I get a break, someone else pays. Government can't deliver a free lunch to the country as a whole. It can, however, determine who pays for lunch. And last week the Senate handed the bill to the wrong party.

Zing! 

Y' know? Bush The Younger's presidency will in retrospect be defined for a few main issues. That's usually a good thing, unless you are Jimmy "Stagflation" Carter or Bill "Itchy-Pants" Clinton. In the sense that he sticks to his main themes of war and taxes, Bush has an astoundingly coherent and straightforward plan for the nation. They are, in fact, very important issues that deserve attention. However, overall coherence does not imply internal consistency. 

Just insisting that "this tax cut is for the good of all" over and over won't make it so, if at the end of the day it's going to benefit the country-club set while leaving Joe Sixpack watching Judge Judy because the day-labor center was full up again. After all, I'm not yet Wolverine, no matter how many "snickety-snick" sounds I make while dancing around the apartment. Platitudes may sound nice, but only results matter. And what happened to his "Education Plan?" Unfunded mandates are even worse than empty platitudes.