The GOP’s Honesty Deficit
Republicans have a cute little “deficit hawk” scam going: They “block extended aid to the unemployed, while simultaneously pushing for massive tax cuts for the wealthy.”
How do they justify this? According to Republican leaders like Mike Pence and Jon Kyl, the former has to be offset by spending cuts, but the latter, due to some mysterious mix of magic and voodoo, doesn’t.
It’s time for a new limerick:
The GOP’s Honesty Deficit
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Though the GOP deficit hawks
Are famed for “must pay for it” squawks,
They nix plugging the hole
Caused by tax cuts. How droll!
Yes, that’s how hypocrisy talks.
Tags: Deficit Hawks, Economy Satire, Financial Verse, Jon Kyl, Mike Pence, Republican Hypocrisy, Republicans Humor, Tax Cuts, Unemployment Benefits, Voodoo Economics
Your whole post is based on a faulty premise- that the expiring Bush tax cuts are ‘for the rich.’ The tax cuts, as any honest and knowledgable person knows, were for every group of taxpayers- the tax cuts are ‘for everyone’. The fact that you call them ‘tax cuts for the rich’ demonstrates your lack of knowledge and/or honesty on this issue.
So, what Pence is doing is wanting to keep in place tax cuts that we have had for 10 years because he feels that letting those tax cuts expire will lead to higher taxes and thus lower growth (and thus less employment, a falling economy, higher debt, etc). He feels that higher taxes will lead to more debt.
Be honest and more intelligent. You’re posts are sad.
Dear Conservative Teacher,
You’re either misinformed, or delusional. In either case, I pity your students.
Great response… exactly the kind of response I expect after I laid out logical arguments full of reasoning and thought… childish name-calling in response to reason… well, two can play at that game- you’re a poopy-head and I pity anyone who knows you. So there!
When Republicans talk of the deficit
They make it clear that they don’t care for it.
Yet they spent enough bucks
To fill fleets of fat trucks
And thus I must conclude that they’re fulla shit.
Sorry, Conservative Teacher, but reasoning based upon a false assertion (that the Bush tax cuts weren’t for the wealthy) does not amount to reasoning.
Moreover, one could argue that the Dems are merely continuing the Bush tax policy by letting stand the tax cut expiration that the Republicans built into the legislation. If Republicans wanted a permanent tax cut, the Bush Republicans should have voted for one.
And why didn’t Republicans enact a permanent tax cut? In case you’ve forgotten, the reason the tax cuts are set to expire after ten years is because it was the only way to pass it through the budget reconciliation process while simultaneously increasing the deficit. Had the tax cut lasted even a day longer, all the tax cuts would have had to be offset by spending cuts. But the so-called deficit-hawk Republicans were very happy to increase the deficit in order to cut taxes for the wealthy.
Teacher, I have to respond, though I seldom do.
Bush’s fiscal irresponsibility led the nation to the brink of disaster. I am by no means an Obama defender, but you can’t possibly say that Bush’s administration had any positive qualities. Mr. Obama inherited a cesspool, and we are the flotsam floating in the muck.
Perhaps I misread your point, but defending any administration of the past 20 years is ridiculous at best.
Of course, this is my most humble opinion, and I would never dream of encroaching on your beliefs or values. That would be politically incorrect.
Republicans are incredibly obtuse
Their ideas are really of no use
to the whole working class
They can all kiss my ass
Now excuse me while I listen to Bruce
(Springsteen for those who don’t know)
Who puts on a hell of a show
He sings about us
then he gets on his bus…
Hm, maybe Guthrie is better (not Arlo).
to conservative teacher from a liberal teacher. you are correct only in the words of the tax cut bill. yes all taxpayers received a tax cut, but when the average middle class taxpayer received a $300 tax break and the top 1% received $83,000, you can see why any sane person would call this a tax cut for the wealthy. and finally the study out of minnesota shows that the average liberal is more intelligent and better able to think out of the box then the average conservative. and remember jesus was a liberal and the conservatives murdered him then and still do it today.
Good for you, Mad Kane!
The Rethugs don’t want to spend $34B for unemployment benefits for us but they’re TOTALLY good w/ giving $3 trillion in tax cuts from all of us for the wealthiest Americans, by trying to save the GWB tax cuts.
THAT’S the factual, statistical, ugly truth.
Mo Rage, the blog
Thanks everyone for your thoughtful comments and kind words and thanks Jesse, for your limerick.