From Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, I learned that five MI GOP Members of Congress sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, House Leader Craig DeRoche, Rep. Joe Knollenberg, Thad McCotter, Fred Upton, and Tim Walberg urging them to hang tough against a state tax increase. Michigan faces a government shutdown if the legislature doesn't pass a new budget by the end of the month. State Republicans want $1 billion in cuts; meanwhile, Gov. Granholm and Democrats called the cuts draconian and said they would hurt our citizens, schools, police, etc.
The Republicans are outraged that Granholm and the Democrats would put people and a decent quality of life ahead of tax cuts. How dare they waste tax dollars they ask? Well, what about Iraq? Where's the outrage about the amount of money we're spending there? We've spent over $500 billion on that lie so far, but according to Daily Kos that's just the beginning.
A new Congressional study finds that President Bush's plans for the U.S. in Iraq over the next several decades will reach the trillions of dollars, on top of the approximately $567 billion the war has already cost. That accounting assumes a significant troop drawdown -- and still tallies a daunting expense for the United States [...] [emphasis added]Kos says, "I'd respect the Republicans mishandling this war a tiny bit more if they actually worried about paying for this war rather than blather on about tax cuts."
A prior CBO study estimated that U.S. costs in Iraq from 2009 to 2017 will total approximately $1 trillion. On top of that, under the reduced-force combat scenario envisioned in this CBO estimate, the U.S. will spend another $1 trillion by 2057 -- the lifespan of the U.S.'s Korean presence to date.
To paraphrase Kos, I'd respect our state Republicans a tiny bit more if they were honest. They argue that no amount of money is too much to spend in Iraq, but when it comes to meeting the needs of people here at home - the ones who send their tax dollars to Washington to pay for their war - they snap their wallets shut and expect the rest of us to follow along. They know this war is based on a lie, but it's more important to stick to the party line than admit they were wrong.
So you see, it's okay for us to send money to Washington so they can continue their war indefinitely - a war that enriches Republican profiteers and CEO's of defense contractors - but we get nothing in return, not even some change to spend on our schools, infrastructure, health care, etc.
We're being robbed.
3 comments:
Taxes - the holy grail of republicanism. Their motto seems to be - never underestimate the venality of the American taxpayer.
As long as they promise to lower taxes, they can get away with just about anything.
I think you hit it why many voters can't identify which party is working in the their interest. Both parties are complicit in creating bigger government without looking at the means to fund it.
There will be no popular solutions to Michigan's budget crises. Tax cuts do encourage growth in the economy--only when accompanied by reductions in government. Michigan cut taxes by too much in the past two decades, with little or no cuts in spending, at a time when its economy was shrinking. Much of this was done under Republican administrations. Too bad JG can't send the last governor a bill for $1B. Unlike the Federal government, Michigan can't borrow its way out.
For future reference, quoting DailyKos isn't going to get many Republicans to jump on your cause. That's not their favorite source of news!
Abi, venality is a word I don't hear often (my crowd prefers one syllable words ;-)), but it sure does describe a lot of us. We'll bargain away the health of our children for a few extra bucks in our pockets.
Digitalbob, welcome. Lucky for us that the state can't borrow it's way out of this deficit since deficit-financed tax cuts only weaken economic growth over the long run.
It too bad we can't bill Engler for $1B as you suggest and it's also too bad we can't sue the Bush administration for fraud and get back some of our tax dollars to spend here at home.
Finally, thanks for the tip about DailyKos. I used the link because I only found that story mentioned in two places - Kos and Americblog - and I would hope Republicans and Democrats would care more about the content and veracity of the information instead of the blog hosting it. IMHO, that story deserved to be on the front page of every paper in the country.
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