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Ted Kennedy Throws Down the Gauntlet!

January 17, 2002

Hooray for Ted Kennedy! After listening to the likes of Tom Daschle bad-mouth the Bush boys over the Great Tax Giveaway of 2001 without ever suggesting that those tax cuts be shelved, somebody (besides yours truly) finally had the intestinal fortitude to call for a repeal. Yesterday, before the microphone at the National Press Club, Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy said the magic words: He called for a repeal of a future tax rate cut for the upper-income taxpayers and a cancellation of the future inheritance tax elimination, at least on inheritances above $4 million. It's about time.

Later, Bush mouthpiece Ari Fleischer was asked whether Dubya considers Kennedy's proposal a tax increase:

"Y-E-S. Yes. No question about it.''

Well, at least Ari got the spelling right. As for Bush's contention, I suggest he go to a dictionary and look up the following:

increase: Function: noun. Date: 14th century.

1.the act or process of addition or enlargement in size, extent, or quantity

2.something that is added to an original stock or amount by augmentation or growth (as offspring, produce, profit)

Notice that "increase" would not apply to something that did not change in size, extent, or quantity. Could it be that Bush is trying to mislead Americans about Kennedy's proposal for cheap political gain? Nah! George is too busy restoring honor and dignity to the White House to stoop to such slimy tactics. Ari Fleischer, on the other hand, apparently has some spare time.

To be fair, Bush's knowledge of economics most likely comes from his days at Yale and Harvard. It wasn't the schoolwork that taught him about economics, since he apparently didn't do much of that. It was his experience outside the classroom that imparted the valuable lessons that Bush brings to office. During his days in college, Bush learned the "ditzy rich kid shopping with Dad's credit card" approach to fiscal policy: Let's charge up a big party for my rich friends and then let Dad worry about paying the bill! Unfortunately, this only works if your dad is rich and doesn't mind if you grow up with no concept of the value of a dollar. Does this sound like anybody we know? I'll give you a hint: He came in second in the 2000 Presidential Election . . .

Bush probably learned the rest of what he knows about the economy from his close friends at Enron. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that their accountants would classify a tax that remains unchanged as a tax increase. The rest of us live in the real world. And right now, the real world has some big problems. Interior security (I refuse to use the term "Homeland." It sounds too Nazi-esque) has gotten very expensive, medical inflation is beginning to take off, seniors are having to choose between medication and food, and we are now stuck building an incredibly expensive missile defense system, a.k.a. "The Imaginot Line" (Man, I wish I had thought of that!). How do we pay for all of this stuff? I, for one, am sick to death of Republicans trying to borrow money from my infant son to finance tax breaks for their campaign contributors. Yesterday, Ted Kennedy made it clear that he is, too.

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© 2002, The Angry Liberal