February 10, 2003
Compassionate conservatism strikes again
President Bush, who ran as a "compassionate conservative" is showing the most recent manifestation of that ideology - let's just do away with the social support network entirely (see Bush tries new deal for Great Society).
OR
Maybe someone is telling him that you can't cut taxes, increase military spending, implement a totalitarian state, and fight wars in "multiple theaters" at the same time. So the money has to come from somewhere - why not the "safety net?" (programs such as Medicaid, Social Security, Education, Social Welfare)
Of course, it is not mentioned that we already fund social security and Medicaid through our taxes - so unless we quit paying those taxes this is a one time revenue source.
But then there are other sources that we might tap - the rest of the super fund (which we - not polluters - now pay for) or infrastructure isuues (transportaion, highways, dams, etc), or maybe the CDC? Let's jsut totally privatize NASA. How about giving over our accounting to Arthur Andersen (I hear they really need a new customer of note). Or maybe we should just cut out the middle-men in government and turn over energy issues to Enron, military to GE and Lockheed, and environmental issues to Exxon/Shell?
Posted by rowan at February 10, 2003 11:10 AM | [eMail this article!] |I have no idea where Bush and the administration think all of this money is going to come from. Actually, what they end up doing is taking $$ out of social services in order to finance corporations and cut taxes for the wealthy...it's disgusting.
Republicans can never talk about how fiscally conservative they are again.
Posted by: Emily at February 10, 2003 2:45 PMGood point about the fiscal conservatism!
Posted by: rowan at February 10, 2003 3:04 PMEmily, I agree...where is the money going to come from? His corporate friends will be getting richer from the war but won't have to suffer the tax liability either personally or through their businesses....it's maddening the damage this administration is doing to this country and he has the nerve to pull God into this....God had nothing to do with Enron, US Patriot Act, the Florida vote, or the appointment of some very scary individuals to some critical leadership posts....
Apparently he knows of a money tree somewhere that will sprout the appropriate amount once the war on terrorism is over....(but wasn't he linked to enron at some level, if not enron, some other energy company- unfortunately I didn't memorize his attachment) someone could adjust the books maybe? And to think that this will be his legacy....
While the government raids the "cookie jars" of social security, etc., and runs up the US "credit cards" to pay for their wars and other agendas - can we just begin to ask who holds this debt?? Two parallels here - the American consumer debt loads and bankruptcies, both at all time highs, and the fall of Enron, which was preceeded by the guys in charge looting the assets prior to going under....most of the guys in charge of our "government" right now have had/still have corporate ties, have learned corporate behaviour - why would we be expecting that they are now in "public service"? How many trillions do we owe now? And what happens when we can't pay our debts?
Posted by: Barbara at March 1, 2003 1:12 PM