Posted by
JayPeriod on Friday, March 14, 2008 9:08:18 AM
Yesterday, the Democrats in Congress had an opportunity to show us how committed they are to helping the economy and putting money back in our pockets. Instead, all they managed to show was just how money hungry and insensitive they are. Three specific items caught my attention.
First, the Senate had a chance to make the Bush tax cuts permanent. These included the Inheritance Tax, also known as the Death Tax. This tax punishes your heirs after you are dead for your hard work and thrift. There were other tax cuts that were not renewed as well.
The Democrats claimed that they wanted these cuts to expire and be gone because they are for the wealthy. They prefer cutting taxes on the poor. While I agree that we should not tax the poor, we shouldn't tax anyone for that matter, raising taxes on the wealthy doesn't make much sense either. How many jobs can a poor factory worker produce? How many jobs can a poor salesman produce? In fact, it is the wealthy business owner who creates jobs. He can only do this, though, if he has the money and incentive. Only a socialist mindset sees redistribution of wealth as the right answer. And, for the record, redistribution of wealth does not mean more rich or middle class people, it means everyone is poor.
Second, was a measure put up by Sen. McCain. It would have put a temporary stop to all earmarks. Earmarks are special projects that Congressmen add to spending bills that generally benefit only their constituents. Frankly, they have no place in a federal budget. They cost taxpayers billions every year and range from Woodstock Museums to bridges to nowhere to parks to special research. If these projects had any merit for public funding, it should come from the communities that they benefit.
Despite the screams of recession from the left and cries about the deficit, the Democrats in Washington were unwilling to cut these pet projects from federal budgets this year. This proves only that the Left has no desire to cut spending, bring the deficit under control or make wise decisions regarding our money. They are addicted to our money and the power it allows them to wield.
Finally, Republican Senator Wayne Allard of Colorado had an interesting amendment to add to a bill yesterday. The amendment would completely fund every campaign promise that Sen. Obama has put forward in the current Presidential race. It would fund his universal health care, his increases in military spending and his tax cuts on seniors among other things. The cost? Try $1.4 trillion dollars! Now, where do you think Sen. Obama plans to get the money to cover this increase in federal spending?
While this amendment is sure to fail, a couple of things will be interesting. First, will it garner much national attention to the flippant promises of the Senator from Illinois? Second, will Sen. Obama vote for it himself? I suspect the MSM will cover it over so we never hear about it and I imagine the Senator will treat this like other important pieces of legislation and not be present to vote.
These three items bring a very important point to light. Democrats do not understand that the tax money is our money. Their attitude is that it's their money to spend as they please. When we lose sight of whose money it is, we lose control. It's time we take back control of our money.