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| Monday, March 07, 2005 |
| The Next Fight: Foolish Tax Cuts |
The Social Security battle is not over - Democrats need to:
1) make sure the program is not privatized
2) avoid agreeing to any "add-on" privatization that could be a trojan horse for "carve-out" privatization a few years later
3) actually solve the imbalance, by increasing the payroll cap or the retirement age
4) hammer the Republicans for their folly and win political capital for protecting one of government's most popular programs
But it's not too early to think about the next fight, which is the debate over whether to let Bush's tax cuts expire or make them permanent. Anyone who believes in the liberal idea that government has a responsibility to provide a basic level of social well-being for its citizens should be very clear about where they stand on this. Bush is currently trying to "starve the beast" - he cut taxes, which results in big deficits, so now he says we need to cut spending, and what goes is guaranteed anti-poverty insurance for the old, disabled, and widowed (Social Security). Next would be a reduction in health care for the old and the poor (Medicare/Medicaid).
It's imperative that Democrats use their current position as the guardians of loved programs to communicate to the country what Bush's tax cuts amount to - a huge cut in social welfare for the needy in exchange for huge inflows to the hedge funds that invest rich people's money.
http://dailykos.com/story/2005/3/7/2588/77545 |
posted by CB @ 10:15 AM   |
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