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Tag Archives: hypocrites

Kyl: No Need to Pay For Tax Cuts

13 Tuesday Jul 2010

Posted by Craig in budget, Congress, Conservatives, economy, George W. Bush, Politics, Republicans

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Bush, deficit, Eric Cantor, hypocrites, income inequality, Jon Kyl, Judd Gregg, private sector jobs, tax cuts, unemployment benefits

Given their history, why anybody would give one ounce of credibility to any Republican and their faux concern about deficits is beyond me. But for those few amnesiacs who did, John Kyl should have cleared that up yesterday with this:

“Surely Congress has the authority, and it would be right to — if we decide we want to cut taxes to spur the economy, not to have to raise taxes in order to offset those costs. You do need to offset the cost of increased spending, and that’s what Republicans object to. But you should never have to offset cost of a deliberate decision to reduce tax rates on Americans.”

Two other deficit hypocrites, Judd Gregg and Eric Cantor chimed in:

“Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.), the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, joined House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) in pushing for the extension of a series of taxes set to expire at the end of this year, including a series of cuts for households making more than $250,000 per year.

“If you want to do something to stimulate the economy, you could make clear that tax rates aren’t going to go up at the end of the year,” Gregg said during an appearance on CNBC. “If this administration really wants to stimulate, say they’re going to continue those tax rates — all those tax rates.”

Never mind that when it came to extending unemployment benefits Gregg said, “we are on the path of passing on to our children a nation which they will not be able to afford as a result of the massive debt which is being put on their backs.”

That was over $33 billion. Extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy will cost about $700 billion.

But, but, but, extending the tax cuts will “spur” and “stimulate” the economy, right? If this sounds familiar, here’s why. January, 2004:

“The tax relief the president has given to this economy is working,” Commerce Secretary Don Evans told CNN’s “Late Edition.” “On three separate occasions over the last three years, he’s provided additional tax relief for American workers, American families, businesses across America, and guess what? It’s working. The results are showing that it’s working.”

…Treasury Secretary John Snow predicted that hiring will pick up in 2004.

“All the evidence points in that direction,” Snow told ABC’s “This Week.” “And everything we know about economics indicates that, as you get an economy into high gear, as you get a strong recovery under way, it does translate into jobs.”

The result? “The worst private sector jobs record of any administration in 75 years.”


The Bushies were right about one thing. The tax cuts did work—if you happen to be in the top 1%, that is.

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Cowards, Hypocrites, and Fools

02 Friday Jul 2010

Posted by Craig in budget, Congress, Democrats, economy, Politics, Republicans

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1937, budget, Congress, cowards, credit tightening, deficit commission, double dip recession, fools, Howard Beale, hypocrites, jobless claims, new home sales, Pelosi, Republican, Social Security, states, stock market

Quickly approaching mad as hell stage:

We have a Congress packed with cowards, hypocrites, and fools—on both sides of the aisle. House Democrats have passed a budget that’s not really a budget, and projected a balanced budget that’s not really a balanced budget because it excludes interest payments on the debt. They left out the minor details of how to achieve that lofty goal, depending on recommendations from the debt commission to cover their collective asses and keep them from having to make what could be controversial votes in an election year. Profiles in courage.

That would be the deficit commission packed with Social Security privatizers, some of whom support investing as much as 20% of the SS trust fund in the stock market. Speaker Pelosi, in the interest of openness and transparency, last night sneaked in inserted language in the war funding bill that would allow the House to have an up-or-down vote on the deficit commission’s recommendations in a lame duck session after the November elections. Buck passing and CYA at its finest.

Republican deficit hypocrites, who never saw a spending program they didn’t like when they held power, have now become fiscal conservatives, allegedly. They, along with their lackey Ben Nelson, have blocked the extension of unemployment benefits despite the fact that new jobless claims have hit their highest levels since March, and the unemployment numbers due out today are expected to show an increase from the 9.7% we have now.

Both sides have their collective moistened fingers in the wind which tells them that voters are worried about increasing deficits, so these geniuses look for ways to cut spending, except for the untouchable Defense Department, that is. Wouldn’t want to be accused of being “soft on terror.”. Never mind that the stock market is headed back down, pending new home sales dropped 30% from April to May, credit is still tightening, and many states are facing budget crises that, without federal assistance, could result in the loss of 900,000 more jobs.

Add these to the anticipated rise in unemployment and the prospects of a double-dip recession are increasing by the day. Exactly the wrong time to even be considering spending cuts, unless you want a repeat of 1937. Fools.

We don’t need one Howard Beale, we need to become a nation of Howard Beales.

The Real Cost of Killing the Tax Extenders Bill

24 Thursday Jun 2010

Posted by Craig in budget, Congress, Conservatives, economy, George W. Bush, Politics, Republicans

≈ 1 Comment

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2001, 2003, Arizona, Ben Nelson, Bush tax cuts, Colorado, cost, deficit, George Voinovich, hypocrites, John Kyl, liars, Medicare funding, Medicare Part D, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Republican caucus, state budget cutbacks, Susan Collins, tax extenders bill, unemployment benefits, United States Senate

The confederation of hypocrites and liars in the United States Senate, aka the Republican caucus plus Ben Nelson, voted today for the third time to kill the “tax extenders” bill which would have extended unemployment benefits, several tax credits, and Medicare funding to states facing budget crises.

Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, George Voinovich of Ohio, John Kyl of Arizona, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska all cited the cost of the bill and what it would add to the deficit, about $33 billion, as the main reason for their “no” votes.

Nice to see this new-found consternation about deficits from these four hypocrites. All four voted for the Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, which cost approximately $2.5 trillion, not one dime paid for, all deficit financed. All four voted for Medicare Part D, also in 2003, which cost another trillion dollars, not one cent paid for.

Since these 4 are so concerned about cost, let’s take a look at what the price of their action today will be. From Suzy Khimm at Mother Jones:

“In addition to the millions of Americans who stand to lose unemployment benefits, a huge number of private and public sector employees will lose their jobs due to state budget cuts. Without federal help, states will have to pour in more money to prop up Medicaid, forcing them to make cutbacks in other parts of the budget. As a result, Moody’s chief economist estimates that 200,000 jobs could be axed without federal Medicaid support, and the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities puts the number as high as 900,000—jobs belonging to teachers, firemen, police, and social workers, among others.”

The Wonk Room has more:

“[The Atlantic’s Derek] Thompson pointed to a Center on Budget and Policy Priorities report stating that “without the extended Medicaid funding, Pennsylvania plans to cut funding for domestic violence prevention in half, eliminate all state funds for addressing substance abuse and homelessness, cut funding for child welfare by one-quarter, and cut payments to private hospitals, nursing homes, and doctors across the state — among other steps.” But Pennsylvania is not the only state that will have to take dramatic steps if Congress doesn’t act.

Arizona would have to cut funding for its state court system, Colorado’s likely cuts “include eliminating state aid for full-day kindergarten for 35,000 children, eliminating preschool aid for 21,000 children, and increasing overcrowding in juvenile detention facilities,” while New Mexico “could eliminate a wide range of Medicaid services, including emergency hospital services, inpatient psychiatric care, personal care assistance for the disabled, prescribed medications, and hospice care.”

Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com, estimated that 200,000 jobs could be at stake in this debate over Medicaid funding. “If state governments don’t get additional help from the federal government in the coming fiscal year, then the job losses will be at least that large — in all likelihood, measurably larger than that,” Zandi said.”

Do the deficit hypocrites care? Hell no. A pox on all their houses.

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