Category: The Dubya Era

Do whatcha like.

Checks and balances? Bah, humbug. Like the legislative branch on the matter of Iraq, the judiciary has now also capitulated to the chief executive, allowing Dubya to detain American citizens at will in the name of fighting terrorism. Oh, heck, let’s bring back torture too while we’re at it.

Fighting Mad.

Emboldened by Dubya’s dividend fiasco, the Dems get ready to fight back against the White House on both the dividend tax plan and the renomination of Pickering. I’m surprised Dubya endangered passage of the rest of his program by shoving Pickering down the Senate’s throat again. But, nothing fails like success, it seems…and the dauphin must get what he wants.

Three hundred a vote.

The Dems release their own economic stimulus plan to counter Dubya’s dividend debacle. Not bad…definitely better than the Bush fiasco. But why not a payroll tax reduction, and what is up with these $300 tax rebates? I’m sorry, but in this day and age, particularly with credit cards so easy to obtain and abuse, $300 is not going to change anyone’s financial straits. Instead of making tough decisions or wise policies about what to do with taxpayer money, legislators are handing it back to us in meager amounts in what basically amounts as a voting bribe. Simply put, it’s an evasion of responsibility and a waste of time. Cut payroll taxes, restructure the rolls, do something…but don’t just keep handing out rebates. C’mon, Dems, you can do better. (Although, I must say it again, this still sounds like a much better plan than Dubya’s.)

Don’t call it a comeback.

They’ve been here for years. Nevertheless, the 108th Congress returns, with the GOP controlling all branches of government for the first time since the Jeffords defection. How much damage can they do in one term? I guess we’re going to find out.

True Colors Shining Through.


As we embark on war in the Middle East and the states grapple with their worst fiscal crises in a generation, Dubya moves once again to protect the wealthy by eliminating taxes on dividends, despite the minimal effect it’ll have on economic growth. Typical. I’ve wondered aloud (10/12) about the double taxation on business profits before, but that was in better times, before Dubya blew out the economy with his deficit-exploding tax plan of 2001. (Speaking of which, thanks for the 300 bucks. It changed my life.) Given our dire economic situation and wartime footing now, it’s almost criminal to eliminate dividend taxes to aid stockholders, particularly when high payroll taxes continue to consume the balance of working Americans’ paychecks. (Of course, Dubya plans to pay for all this by freezing all domestic spending except homeland security.) Absolutely ridiculous…How out of it can you be? What will this plan do for the millions of Americans who don’t play the stock market? Are they suppose to pay for the war in Iraq while the wealthiest Americans watch their bank accounts grow? I swear the Monopoly guy must be taking meetings with Karl Rove somewhere in the West Wing.

Something up their sleeve…

Citing Cheney’s energy meetings, Ashcroft’s FOIA directives, the holding of the (Iran-Contra explaining?) Reagan papers, and a host of other Dubya decisions that seem unnecessarily marked private, the NY Times (quoting Alan Brinkley) finds the Bush fils administration the most secretive in American history. But whatever would they have to hide?