How do we address this 'tax and spend' bullshit?

[Deja Q]

That is a huge lie that the repukes have gotten away with over the last 20+ years.

And I'm tired of it.

Especially when the last 3 republicon presidents are the ones responsible for racking up this debt which will kill us.

So what can we do? What can Kerry do?

[Radio-Active]

1. "Read his lips"

"Bush says he won't, but he WILL raise your taxes"

[phantom power]

2. I don't let it pass in conversation.

I point out exactly what you've pointed out. If the GOP ever stood for fiscal responsibility, it was pre-Carter.

For Kerry's part, I think he's taken the same approach: In the debates, he totally called Bush out on his fiscal irresponsibility, and when Bush tried to use the old "tax and spend" smear, he threw it right back in Bush's face.

[Longhorn]

3. Bush's policy has been

"cut taxes and spend" and he's spent this country into bankruptcy!

[apnu]

4. my reply: "Republicans are borrow and spend"

"At least liberals spend the money they have, and don't send our great grand children into hoc."

Then I sit back and watch the spinsanity.

[bossfish]

18. I modify that to...

"borrow and squander"

[wicket]

5. Borrow and Spend Credit Card Republicans

[flpoljunkie]

16. Or Tax Cut and Spend, that would be deficit spending with payroll taxes

[IIgnoreNobody]

6. It's either 'tax and spend' or 'borrow and spend'

those are the only 2 ways the government can get money, either by taxation, or borrowing. Democrats believe in paying as we go, Republicans believe in sticking our kids with the bill.

[grannylib]

7. Maybe best to talk about Freepers like my brother (whom I dearly love,

despite his wretched politics) who was just whining today about paying $200/day in taxes (yes, he makes mega-mega-mega-boucoup-bucks...)
I keep telling him to quit trying to make me feel sorry for him; most people don't EARN in a month what he pays in taxes each week.
Why the fuck should we weep over high taxes for those who can afford it? Look at what they have left...they should all be grateful that they make so much that they are in high tax brackets.
Sheesh.

[Lindacooks]

19. Once again, HOW MUCH MONEY do they have left over??

THOSE are the numbers that should be publicized. Saying that somebody pays $40,000/year in taxes horrifies people who make that amount, but that says NOTHING about the amount of money those people have left over!

If somebody pays $40,000/year in taxes, they probably have about $200,000 left over - and that's a fucking good living.

[grannylib]

21. Exactly! I keep telling people that...most folks would give their left

tit/nut to make in a MONTH the kind of money some people make in a week (hell, some folks don't make as much in a YEAR)
and they STILL whine about taxes.
They should think (if they can) for .02 seconds what the hell would happen in this country if there were no: roads/schools/police/firefighters/militaryforpetessake....etc etc etc.
I fucking HATE the attitude (particularly from so-called Christians) that "I made this money; it's MINE, the government has no right to take it away/I got mine, go get yours/I'm taking my money offshore (now that I've used the system based on tax dollars to MAKE my fortune) so I won't have to pay taxes....
shit.

[Warpy]

8. Bait and switch tax cuts

which resulted in tax HIKES for working class and middle class people.

Mortgage our future, through ruinously expensive tax cuts for the rich and the corporate, which did nothing for the economy and which will eventually take our country farther down the road of bing wholly owned by foreigners. (never hurts to play on right wing xenophobia)

Stopping investment and growth by forcing industry to compete for credit with the government (a big one).

And most of all: taking our country out of the black and plunging it deeply into DEBT that will not be paid off in our lifetime!

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

9. Bush is paying for his war with a "debt tax"

Since he's putting everything on the country's MasterCard, it'll be up to later generations to pay off the resulting bill (principal and lots of interest), which means higher taxes in the future.

"Bush's debt tax" is a good meme, in my opinion. Of course, I made it up, so I'm biased.

[blondeatlast]

10. Time to revive a DU favorite!

"Cheap Labor Conservatives."

How quickly we forget...

http://www.conceptualguerilla.com/index.html

[evilqueen]

11. At least we HAD a budget surplus.

I actually saw a repug visibly shrink when I said that.

He had to agree.

[camero]

12. All governments tax and spend

It's how they can operate. Republicans only spend, they don't tax. They believe they can get something for nothing. Like most rich asshats.

[tomfodw]

13. I don't think you can anymore

Considering that Bush has run up huge deficits while also being in office during an enormous increase in federal spending, the "tax and spend" mantra should have died a long time ago to be replaced by "borrow and spend."

Bush appears to be not the only person to have waved bye-bye to a "reality-based" lifestyle. The American people are way out there on that alternate plane of reality with him.

[RockyO]

14. Kids loose in the Kitchen

They control all and can make breakfast that the rest of the USA and our children will clean up.

Never seena federal tax decrease here in NC that did not raise my local and state taxes.

[Awsi Dooger]

15. Three sentences

"His father, George Bush Sr., attached the same label and made the same fearful claims about Bill Clinton in 1992."

"Clinton only raised the taxes of 1.3% of Americans in 1993, virtually identical to my proposal."

"Clinton's actions not only produced a balanced budget, but a record surplus and the greatest economic boom in the recent history of this country."

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

17. simple...how long would you last if you spent money you didn't have

[LittleClarkie]

20. George is alot like Tommy Thompson, his health guy

We used to call him "Tax and Spend" Tommy. He was considered something of a RINO in that regard.

Some of my fiscal Conservative friends realize that Bush "spends like a drunken sailor" and are not happy about it. Kerry, on the other hand, is known as a "pay as you go" guy.

But some of the other Conservatives I know won't even discuss it. They ASSuMe that Repub = fiscal conservative.

Isn't there something on Pat Buchanan's site about the Conservatives case against Bush?

[NinetySix]

22. Reply with something easy to relate to.

Tax and spend is responsible because everything's paid for. It's like getting a raise and buying a new car.

What Bush is doing is maxing out America's credit cards after it took a pay cut.

Revenue is down because more workers are unemployed or have found new work at lower wages, and that's not even to mention the deep cuts in taxes on the rich. Even so, those cuts, coupled with dramatically increased spending, are running up a deficit unprecedented in American history. We are profoundly fiscally insecure. What if China tries to cash in all its bonds? What if interest rates rise to their natural levels? What if, God forbid, OPEC decides to redenominate the oil they sell in Euros, and nobody needs dollars any more? Counterclockwise down the drain.

Next time the employees at your company are forced to take a pay cut, solve the problem by giving your kids free access to your credit cards. This is exactly analogous to what we're seeing.


edit:sp.

[Road Scholar]

23. Charge and spend!!! NT

[GeorgeBushytail]

24. Tax our kids and spend Republicans

[baltodemvet]

25. Bush Fantasyland: Spend and Spend n/t

[flaminbats]

26. tax and spend..almost as horrible as work and pay

Republicans claim they will never cut or privatize Social Security and Medicare. They say spending half a trillion every year on the military is not enough, and they claim more must be spent to successfully rebuild Iraq. Republicans once opposed placing unfunded mandates on the states, but now claim they will spend whatever is necessary to make "No Child Left Behind" a success.

They promise to lower our taxes, stop all terrorism, never cut military spending, spend more for Star Wars, keep Social Security and Medicare solvent, spend more on prescription drugs for Seniors, spend more on education, spend more on the CIA and FBI, reduce deficit spending, keep interest rates low, and also stimulate the economy.

Bush claims that Kerry will tax and spend us into a recession, allow another 9/11 attack to occur, and supports rationing healthcare..possibly resulting in long waits at the doctor's office for most or no medical care for others! :scared:

[cosmicvortex20]

27. uh, actually reduce the size and cost of the federal system maybe?

Neither party has ever done this since like Andrew Jackson.

[Tennessee Gal]

28. Red Ink Republicans!

I love that one!

[sandnsea]

33. That's the best one! n/t

[JohnnyCougar]

29. Better than borrow and spend

[siliconefreak]

30. It's old news

I say don't worry about it. It's old, it's tired, and the only people it motivates are people who wouldn't vote for Kerry anyway.

[yowzayowzayowza]

31. Democrats haven't been...

the tax and spend party since Cheney was a Democrat. Indeed, most of the ole-time tax and spend Democrats have long since jumped to the Republican Party.

They really need to get some new material.

[EndElectoral]

32. Party today..Screw tomorrow!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

34. Ask them which govt. program that

they themselves benefit from they're willing to do without.

If they say they don't benefit from government programs, ask them who owns the road they drive to work on.

[4_Legs_Good]

35. Use the Dean "BORROW AND SPEND" line about the Republicans

Tax and spend means nothing more than "Pay as you go".

Borrowing and spending, now that's a problem.

david