The rug merchants in the Bush Treasury Department are out there this week bragging about how their fearless leader cut income taxes for every taxpayer.
Every current taxpayer, maybe. As for our kids and grandkids, the mess these guys have made will be expensive to contain, and it will never be cleaned up entirely.
Comments (6)
Expensive to contain? Treasury says as much.
(note the bottom link: "White House Fact Sheet: The Largest Tax Increase in History Is Looming". The contents are doom and gloom should Congress fail to renew all Bush tax cuts. The economics are staggering and time's a-wastin.
I hope Congress steps up with legislation which retains the most socially progressive components and allows the special interests favored cuts to sail away in the sunset. That might please the grandkids.
"I hope Congress steps up with legislation which retains the most socially progressive components..."
Those are the most expensive elements of the budget. That and paying the interest on our $9.4 trillion debt.
If anything, rampant social programs are what got us into this mess in the first place.
We've spent $600 billion on Iraq, Afganastan and the war on terror, but we've added $2 trillion to the debt. That extra $1.4 trillion went to social programs we can't afford.
Don't forget this factoid: Just a few decades out, if nothing changes, the country will need nearly every tax dollar it collects to pay for Social Security, Medicare and interest on the debt.
Chris Mullen: "We've spent $600 billion on Iraq, Afganastan and the war on terror, but we've added $2 trillion to the debt. That extra $1.4 trillion went to social programs we can't afford."
I haven't checked your numbers, but other than the new drug program, there were no major new social programs during the $2 trillion Bush debt binge. Cutting taxes below what is necessary to pay for known programs and then afterwards claiming unafforabililty is disingenuous, at best.
The programs were there before the tax cuts, and were being paid for under Clinton. Tax cutters should have the intellectual honesty to impose program cuts along with their tax cuts, rather than pleading Federal poverty in the face of known program costs. Let the voters know what programs need to end to pay for tax cuts, otherwise it's a game of fiscal smoke & mirrors being played at the expense of unrepresented future taxpayers.
Greater inflation seems to be the likely outcome and a more brazen speculator bent the next time around. Some of the bankers in this country should not get off the hook as the Federal Reserve (Fed) try's to keep the proverbial toilet from overflowing.
At a certain point on down the road, the Fed will have to fight inflation and let the economy sink ala 1980-1982. Hopefully, I'm wrong and inflation subsides.
Charamba, Douro 2008
Horse Heaven Hills, Cabernet 2010
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills Pinot Grigio 2011
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Mercedes Eguren, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Lorelle, Columbia Valley Cabernet 2011
Purple Moon, Merlot 2011
Purple Moon, Chardonnnay 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend No. 12
Opula Red Blend 2010
Liberte, Pinot Noir 2010
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Indian Wells Red Blend 2010
Woodbridge, Chardonnay 2011
King Estate, Pinot Noir 2011
Famille Perrin, Cotes du Rhone Villages 2010
Columbia Crest, Les Chevaux Red 2010
14 Hands, Hot to Trot White Blend
Familia Bianchi, Malbec 2009
Terrapin Cellars, Pinot Gris 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2009
Campo Viejo, Rioja, Termpranillo 2010
Ravenswood, Cabernet Sauvignon 2009
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2010
Waterbrook, Reserve Merlot 2009
Lorelle, Horse Heaven Hills, Pinot Grigio 2011
Tarantas, Rose
Chateau Lajarre, Bordeaux 2009
La Vielle Ferme, Rose 2011
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio 2011
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir 2009
Lello, Douro Tinto 2009
Quinson Fils, Cotes de Provence Rose 2011
Anindor, Pinot Gris 2010
Buenas Ondas, Syrah Rose 2010
Les Fiefs d'Anglars, Malbec 2009
14 Hands, Pinot Gris 2011
Conundrum 2012
Condes de Albarei, Albariño 2011
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2007
Penelope Sanchez, Garnacha Syrah 2010
Canoe Ridge, Merlot 2007
Atalaya do Mar, Godello 2010
Vega Montan, Mencia
Benvolio, Pinot Grigio
Nobilo Icon, Pinot Noir, Marlborough 2009
Portuga, Rose 2011
Revelation, Chardonnay, Pays d'Oc 2010
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2005
Monte Alto, Tinto Reserva 2005
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Cabernet, Indian Wells 2009
Espiral, Vinho Rose
Vin-Koru, Pinot Gris 2011
14 Hands, Hot to Trot Red 2009
Rodney Strong, Cabernet, Sonoma 2009
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #11
Portuga, White 2010
La Bourgeoisie, Red 2009
Januik, Red 2009
Three Rivers, River's Red 2008
Kirkland, Alexander Valley Merlot 2008
Muga, Rioja Rose 2010
Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
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Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
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Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
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Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
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Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
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Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
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Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
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Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
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David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
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Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 21
At this date last year: 52
Total run in 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (6)
Expensive to contain? Treasury says as much.
(note the bottom link: "White House Fact Sheet: The Largest Tax Increase in History Is Looming". The contents are doom and gloom should Congress fail to renew all Bush tax cuts. The economics are staggering and time's a-wastin.
I hope Congress steps up with legislation which retains the most socially progressive components and allows the special interests favored cuts to sail away in the sunset. That might please the grandkids.
Posted by genop | May 29, 2008 1:14 PM
"I hope Congress steps up with legislation which retains the most socially progressive components..."
Those are the most expensive elements of the budget. That and paying the interest on our $9.4 trillion debt.
If anything, rampant social programs are what got us into this mess in the first place.
We've spent $600 billion on Iraq, Afganastan and the war on terror, but we've added $2 trillion to the debt. That extra $1.4 trillion went to social programs we can't afford.
Don't forget this factoid: Just a few decades out, if nothing changes, the country will need nearly every tax dollar it collects to pay for Social Security, Medicare and interest on the debt.
Posted by Chris McMullen | May 29, 2008 3:09 PM
"That extra $1.4 trillion went to social programs we can't afford."
Yes like Social Security and Medicare. I say let those old folks die. Oh wait a minute, I'll be one of them in about seven more years.
Uh. Never mind. :-)
Greg C
Posted by Greg C | May 29, 2008 4:16 PM
"Yes like Social Security and Medicare..."
Partially correct. Social security has it's own fund and is not part of the general fund (although SS will blow up sooner than later).
HHS breakdown is as follows:
Medicare: 55%
Medicaid: 29%
Discretionary Programs 10%
Children's programs: 3%
If we decide to provide free health care to everyone, Iraq's debt is going to look like tiddly-winks. And yes, your grandkids will be paying for it.
Posted by Chris McMullen | May 29, 2008 4:32 PM
Chris Mullen: "We've spent $600 billion on Iraq, Afganastan and the war on terror, but we've added $2 trillion to the debt. That extra $1.4 trillion went to social programs we can't afford."
I haven't checked your numbers, but other than the new drug program, there were no major new social programs during the $2 trillion Bush debt binge. Cutting taxes below what is necessary to pay for known programs and then afterwards claiming unafforabililty is disingenuous, at best.
The programs were there before the tax cuts, and were being paid for under Clinton. Tax cutters should have the intellectual honesty to impose program cuts along with their tax cuts, rather than pleading Federal poverty in the face of known program costs. Let the voters know what programs need to end to pay for tax cuts, otherwise it's a game of fiscal smoke & mirrors being played at the expense of unrepresented future taxpayers.
Posted by PdxMark | May 29, 2008 5:04 PM
Greater inflation seems to be the likely outcome and a more brazen speculator bent the next time around. Some of the bankers in this country should not get off the hook as the Federal Reserve (Fed) try's to keep the proverbial toilet from overflowing.
At a certain point on down the road, the Fed will have to fight inflation and let the economy sink ala 1980-1982. Hopefully, I'm wrong and inflation subsides.
Posted by Bob Clark | May 30, 2008 12:50 AM