culture, politics, commentary, criticism

Thursday, April 03, 2003
Amazing bullshit from a corporate liar. Equating tax cuts for the rich with military patriotism, Treasury Secretary and
$164 million corporate welfare beneficiary John Snow reveals his Bushistic talent for false connections (FindLaw/Reuters):
Congress should approve the Bush administration's full $726 billion tax cut to provide economic security in the same way that troops in Iraq are fighting for national security, Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Thursday.

Snow coupled the call for recognition of the practical benefit with a suggestion that it could be seen as a patriotic act.

"We cannot afford to fail the American people, especially our troops overseas," he said in a speech to the Orlando Chamber of Commerce.

Snow, at the start of a two-day swing, through Florida urged voters to tell Congress they want tax cuts. Snow claimed more jobs will be lost if lawmakers decline to approve the tax reductions and implied it was a test of patriotism.

"I believe that these are the two pillars supporting our nation's greatness and the well-being of our people: national security and economic security," Snow said in prepared remarks.

"As a matter of principle, this administration believes we have an obligation to the American people to rebuild our economy, even as we protect our national security," Snow said.

"Choosing one over the other is a false choice."

[...]

The tenuous nature of the U.S. economy's pace was underlined on Thursday by new government statistics showing a sharp uptick in new applications for jobless pay last week -- a 38,000-person increase to 445,000.

Snow said there was urgency in applying a tonic to the economy, saying the White House was doing all it could on the national and economic security fronts and suggesting Congress was dragging its feet.

"We cannot wait until the war is over to focus on economic growth. We must act now," Snow said. "Those here in Florida who are looking for work cannot wait for a job, and should not have to wait for a job."

Florida is considered ripe territory for an appeal for reduced taxes. Its sunny, palm-lined streets and beaches are home to a large community of wealthy and patriotic retirees who are among prime recipients of dividend income.

The dividend tax exclusion "would provide tax relief for 7 million senior taxpayers by an average of $1,252, and 4.5 million taxpayers, mostly seniors, will have a smaller portion of their Social Security benefit payments taxed if the president's plan is enacted," Snow said.
It boggles the mind that Snow can say all of this with a straight face while Bush's record deficits pile up, not even including a $75 billion down payment on Bush's fraudulent war. No expected him to be anything but a lapdog for the administration, but these lies are truly offensive.

The blood of American soldiers is NOT equal to tax-free dividends for the rich. Repeat, NOT. Comparing patriotic support for our troops with a $104,823 cut in Dick Cheney's personal tax bill is not just disingenuous — it's a profound corruption of our government's ability to establish or communicate our national values and policies.
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Greatest Hits · Alternatives to First Command Financial Planning · First Command, last resort, Part 3 · Part 2 · Part 1 · Stealing $50K from a widow: Wells Real Estate · Leo Wells, REITs and divine wealth · Sex-crazed Red State teenagers · What I hate: a manifesto · Spawn of Darleen Druyun · All-American high school sex party · Why is Ken Lay smiling? · Poppy's Enron birthday party · The Saudi money laundry and the president's uncle · The sentence of Enron's John Forney · The holiness of Neil Bush's marriage · The Silence of Cheney: a poem · South Park Christians · Capitalist against Bush: Warren Buffett · Fastow childen vs. Enron children · Give your prescription money to your old boss · Neil Bush, hard-working matchmaker · Republicans against fetuses and pregnant women · Emboldened Ken Lay · Faith-based jails · Please die for me so I can skip your funeral · A brief illustrated history of the Republican Party · Nancy Victory · Soldiers become accountants · Beware the Merrill Lynch mob · Darleen Druyun's $5.7 billion surprise · First responder funding · Hoovering the country · First Command fifty percent load · Ken Lay and the Atkins diet · Halliburton WMD · Leave no CEO behind · August in Crawford · Elaine Pagels · Profitable slave labor at Halliburton · Tom Hanks + Mujahideen · Sharon & Neilsie Bush · One weekend a month, or eternity · Is the US pumping Iraqi oil to Kuwait? · Cheney's war · Seth Glickenhaus: Capitalist against Bush · Martha's blow job · Mark Belnick: Tyco Catholic nut · Cheney's deferred Halliburton compensation · Jeb sucks sugar cane · Poindexter & LifeLog · American Family Association panic · Riley Bechtel and the crony economy · The Book of Sharon (Bush) · The Art of Enron · Plunder convention · Waiting in Kuwait: Jay Garner · What's an Army private worth? · Barbara Bodine, Queen of Baghdad · Sneaky bastards at Halliburton · Golf course and barbecue military strategy · Enron at large · Recent astroturf · Cracker Chic 2 · No business like war business · Big Brother · Martha Stewart vs. Thomas White · Roger Kimball, disappointed Republican poetry fan · Cheney, Lay, Afghanistan · Terry Lynn Barton, crimes of burning · Feasting at the Cheney trough · Who would Jesus indict? · Return of the Carlyle Group · Duct tape is for little people · GOP and bad medicine · Sears Tower vs Mt Rushmore · Scared Christians · Crooked playing field · John O'Neill: The man who knew · Back to the top






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