If you are American and poor...
... times might be about to get a little more "interesting" for you.
A confluence of unfortunate events look to be shaping the next few years to be really bad for you if you are poor, American, and in need of health care. First, Republican support is drying up all over the electoral map, but oddly enough it is not because of their foreign policy incompetence, rather their management of government expenses that is really costing them.
Massive budget overruns resulting from tax cuts, increased security costs, and the Iraq War are combining to put the American government in a position of potential budget default if something is not done, and quickly. This situation is not lost on the small-government cabal within the Republican party that have seen the size of government balloon to its largest in US history.
With elections coming this fall, the Republicans have only one chance to reverse this loss of support on matters economic - the upcoming budget vote. If leaked documents that fed this article from today's NY Times are right, then there may be up to $650 billion in cuts, the bulk of which will be to Medicare and to the education, commerce, and energy departments. Naturally, military spending will increase still further.
This is worrisome enough, but combine it with the line-item veto that Bush has asked for and some really interesting scenarios can be played out. George Bush has not once actually vetoed a bill, however a line item veto would give him the power to hand-pick elements of proposed legislation, and in effect write his own bills. It was for this reason that it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998 after it was initially requested by, and granted to Bill Clinton.
His shiny new Supreme Court will probably have no problem letting that little bad boy slide on through, particularly if they are dealing with more high-profile cases such as a likely renewal of the Roe v Wade debate. (Note to self - see if anyone is looking for financing for border town abortion clinics.)
The third possible nail in the coffin for America's poor could be Bush's insistence, some would say mania, for making permanent his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to the wealthy. This has been on the backburner for a little while, however it did reappear in his State of the Union Address this year, so don't be surprised if this too becomes part of the debate.
A confluence of unfortunate events look to be shaping the next few years to be really bad for you if you are poor, American, and in need of health care. First, Republican support is drying up all over the electoral map, but oddly enough it is not because of their foreign policy incompetence, rather their management of government expenses that is really costing them.
Massive budget overruns resulting from tax cuts, increased security costs, and the Iraq War are combining to put the American government in a position of potential budget default if something is not done, and quickly. This situation is not lost on the small-government cabal within the Republican party that have seen the size of government balloon to its largest in US history.
With elections coming this fall, the Republicans have only one chance to reverse this loss of support on matters economic - the upcoming budget vote. If leaked documents that fed this article from today's NY Times are right, then there may be up to $650 billion in cuts, the bulk of which will be to Medicare and to the education, commerce, and energy departments. Naturally, military spending will increase still further.
This is worrisome enough, but combine it with the line-item veto that Bush has asked for and some really interesting scenarios can be played out. George Bush has not once actually vetoed a bill, however a line item veto would give him the power to hand-pick elements of proposed legislation, and in effect write his own bills. It was for this reason that it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 1998 after it was initially requested by, and granted to Bill Clinton.
His shiny new Supreme Court will probably have no problem letting that little bad boy slide on through, particularly if they are dealing with more high-profile cases such as a likely renewal of the Roe v Wade debate. (Note to self - see if anyone is looking for financing for border town abortion clinics.)
The third possible nail in the coffin for America's poor could be Bush's insistence, some would say mania, for making permanent his 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to the wealthy. This has been on the backburner for a little while, however it did reappear in his State of the Union Address this year, so don't be surprised if this too becomes part of the debate.
Bush can talk all he wants about making the tax cuts permanent - but it ain't gonna happen. As a matter of fact, I'll predict (and a lot of conservatives are agreeing with me) that whoever gets the Presidency in 2008 is going to wind up increasing taxes to cover off the economic mess Bush has made. That's why I actually hope the Republicans win the elections - cause why should the Democrats get to play the fall guy?
Posted by
Dan |
Wed Mar 08, 01:06:00 PM
Good points, Dan. I have no idea how Bush can possibly think that he can get away with making the cuts permanent, either. For that matter, how can a tax cut be "permanent", anyway? You can always tax again or add a new one.
But he goes on about it so much that I've got to think that there is no way he can satisfy some component of his base without throwing them a bony or two. I don't know what the form that bone might be, though.
Screwing the poor is always in vogue with that set, though.
Posted by
kevvyd |
Wed Mar 08, 08:42:00 PM