The battle cry of Class Warfare

www.politicalman.com ^ | 01/09/02 | Political Man

[Honcho]

The battle cry of Class Warfare
by Political_Man

The White House announced this week that the President has decided on a new economic stimulus package. According to most reports the meat of the President's plan calls for the elimination of all taxes paid on dividends, acceleration of the tax cuts currently on the books for 2006, and an increase in the child credit by $400. Of course don't forget that first part. It's the portion of the President's plan that is going to garner the most attention and is probably the most important part. While consumer spending has been up in the last 2 years, investment capital has not. Rocked by 9-11, Enron, World Com, Global Crossing, and {insert your own corporate scandal here},the Stock Market has weathered the storm pretty well, all things considering. But with capital investment down and a sluggish economy, more money is needed in the private sector to create jobs. What better way is there to increase investment than by giving tax breaks to the investor?

Like clock work, almost immediately after the President's announcement, the left-wing of the Democratic Party has come out of the wood work with the class warfare cry of “tax cuts for the rich!” Unfortunately this has become the standard opposition to any tax cuts proposed by Republicans in recent years. The argument, as it goes, says that Bush's proposal is another example of Republicans using current conditions to help out their rich, fat cat friends. Whatever you might think of the chances of Bush's proposal being successful in reviving the economy, everyone should understand that the last thing on the President's mind is paying back his political allies. The President is certainly intelligent enough to understand if the economy doesn't turn around by 2004, it won't matter how many political friends he has in the inner circle of American politics.

It's pretty obvious that most Americans have given Bush some leeway on the economy to this point partially because of 9-11 and partially because they understand that the current downturn is part of a number of factors that were generally out of the President's control. With the GOP in charge of Congress and the White House, don't expect voters to be so forgiving in 2004. The only thing that can re-elect Republicans in the next election is success. The President understands this and he's providing a plan that he believes will bring victory.

Democrats should understand they are playing a dangerous game of chicken with an extremely popular President. And while most liberals seem to view President Bush as a dunce, I can't help but think about the look on the face of then Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle the night of midterm elections when he realized he and his fellow Democrats just got their teeth kicked in. Part of the President's strategy of “setting a new tone in Washington” has been to put a gag on his own party's attack dogs long enough to allow voters to hear that annoying screeching sound that can always be heard coming from the left.

By refusing to engage the issue of taxes and opting instead for a sound bite of demonization, the left is robbing the tax payers of any real debate on the matter. If the left can't muster up enough self control to stop playing political games with important issues for the sake of the country, maybe they can do it for the sake of their party. Otherwise the left better start looking for a dentist, because this President has already shown that he's got their number.

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