Who else noticed their paycheck is smaller?

[g8rjd]

Originally Posted by DaveFla

Then you recalled wrong...

Hmmm...let's take a look back then...

Bush: Surplus Justifies Tax Cut

Bush: Bigger surplus makes tax cuts okay

Bush Defends Size of Surplus and Tax Cuts

''The federal budget will have the second largest surplus in history,'' Mr. Bush told an audience of several thousand people at Harry S. Truman High School, referring to figures for the current fiscal year to be released on Wednesday by the White House Office of Management and Budget.

The report, Mr. Bush said, will ''show in plain terms that we have fully funded and will be able to fund our nation's priorities and that we have enough money to preserve and protect Social Security'' while safeguarding Medicare and reducing the federal debt. He said this was possible despite a sluggish economy, in part because his administration ''took exactly the right action, at the right time, by pushing the largest tax cut in a generation.''

Bush Defends Tax Cut as Democratic Snipe

President Bush defended his administration's tax cut as "the right thing to do" Sunday as Democrats argued it eroded the federal budget surplus and threatens Social Security and Medicare.

During a tour of a Pittsburgh steel plant, Bush said little he has not said before. But his new defense of the tax cut suggested that Democratic attacks, including a recent critical television ad, are getting the attention of the White House.

"You see, there's a big debate in Washington about the money in Washington. Sometimes folks up there lose sight about whose money it is," Bush said. "That money's not the government's money. It's the people's money. And we did the right thing with sharing that money with the people who pay the bills."

For weeks, Democrats have charged that Bush will have to dip into the Social Security and Medicare trust funds because the economy is slowing and because the budget surplus is shrinking -- a fact they blame on the Bush tax cut.

The White House estimates this year's budget surplus will be $158 billion, down from an earlier estimate of $281 billion. Nearly all of that is money devoted to Social Security.

It was only after those shrinking surpluses became deficits and it was clear that the economic cooldown was becoming a recession that the "new" justification for the same policy was "economic stimulus."

Bush Presses for Tax Cut

Changing Rationale, But the Plan Remains the Same

Even as Bush remains firmly committed to the tax cut, his rationale for enacting it has changed. During the campaign, when economic projections were rosier, Bush said a reduction in the basic income tax rates would be a way of giving citizens money that was rightfully theirs.

“The surplus is the people’s money,” Bush said frequently during his stump speeches.

But after Election Day — and even before the outcome of the presidential race was fully resolved — Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney, had begun saying that a tax cut would be necessary to stoke an economy showing signs of cooling, a position they continue to play up.

“I think it’s really important for members of the Congress to understand that the tax relief plan I put forward is an integral part of economic recovery,” Bush said Wednesday.

So if you are suggesting that my recollection is incorrect because the same policy was justified by what I said and, when that justification couldn't be maintained anymore, a new one, then I admit all rounds were not under the justification of returning the surplus. But if you are suggesting, as the post I responded to was, that we were running deficits and the economy began receeding before Bush's presidency, then, no, my recollection is correct.

[Matthanuf06]

Originally Posted by g8rjd

Hmmm...let's take a look back then...

Bush: Surplus Justifies Tax Cut

Bush: Bigger surplus makes tax cuts okay

Bush Defends Size of Surplus and Tax Cuts

Bush Defends Tax Cut as Democratic Snipe

It was only after those shrinking surpluses became deficits and it was clear that the economic cooldown was becoming a recession that the "new" justification for the same policy was "economic stimulus."

Bush Presses for Tax Cut

So if you are suggesting that my recollection is incorrect because the same policy was justified by what I said and, when that justification couldn't be maintained anymore, a new one, then I admit all rounds were not under the justification of returning the surplus. But if you are suggesting, as the post I responded to was, that we were running deficits and the economy began receeding before Bush's presidency, then, no, my recollection is correct.

I'm not sure of the point though. If you have a good economy, don't need spending, with a surplus, then tax cutting is exactly what a Keynesian would do. It's almost definitional: return money back to the people when you don't need it.

Deficit problems are different because raising taxes can be harmful to an economy as well as encroach on the liberty of its citizens. The Keynesian dream would be to spend more in such an environment, but a good chunk of the reasons why we are struggling is due to government expenditures. The typical Keynesian model breaks down when this occurs.

[philnotfil]

Originally Posted by Matthanuf06

I'm not sure of the point though. If you have a good economy, don't need spending, with a surplus, then tax cutting is exactly what a Keynesian would do. It's almost definitional: return money back to the people when you don't need it.

Deficit problems are different because raising taxes can be harmful to an economy as well as encroach on the liberty of its citizens. The Keynesian dream would be to spend more in such an environment, but a good chunk of the reasons why we are struggling is due to government expenditures. The typical Keynesian model breaks down when this occurs.

Paying down the debt would be the first step while the economy is good. If the debt is paid off and the economy is strong, then a Keynesian would lower taxes.

[gatorpa]

Originally Posted by g8orbill

I find it amusing (and sad) how libs will defend a guy like Clinton who was a p*ssyhound and who denigrated women and demonize a real family man like Romney because he was successful in business

Disgusting actually, worse that so many just eat it up.

[gatorpa]

Originally Posted by fredsanford

Is that why the pubs kept the drunk driving former coke hound GWB from speaking at the RNC?

Or the Dems nominating a drinking cokehead twice for POTUS, or electing a drunk driving Alcoholic who never repented to the Senate from Mass for how many terms? Not to mention one how was likely guilty of vehicular manslaughter.