Snow on CNBC Says About Bush,"He's gonna cut the budget deficit in half"

[norml]

Full quote... "He's gonna cut the budget deficit in half, in the next few years." Can you believe that? He's also giving the, "No change in strong dollar policy." lie.

[Bouncy Ball]

1. Bouncy Ball on DU says that when bush cuts the deficit in half

donkeys will fly out of her ass.

[shoelace414]

2. he's going to

Cut the deficit in half, make tax cuts permanent and privatize social security.

how bad at math can you be?

[peekaloo]

3. almost as sadly comical as Don Evans this a.m. raving about

the strong economy.

[progressiveBadger]

4. Great! n/t

Of course, I'll believe it when I see it. I really hope he does though, since we're kinda stuck living with whatever that idiot does.

[tridim]

5. So I guess that means he's either going to raise taxes

or cut every federal program to zero. Nothing else will work.

[norml]

12. I gave this "Economic Summit" it's own thread in GD. It's on C-Span also.

norml (1000+ posts) Wed Dec-15-04 08:03 PM
Original message
Does The "Economic Summit" Have It's Own Thread? On C-Span & CNBC


It's their plans for the second term. It's all the worst of their ideas, and how they will be sold. You should be watching, and studying this. Earlier,from this "Summit", on CNBC, John Snow said, concerning Bush, "He's gonna cut the budget deficit in half, in the next few years." Alert! Alert!


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[RobertSeattle]

6. Similar to "I'm going to beat my wife only have as much in 2005"

[Burma Jones]

7. Sure, the same way a magician cuts a lovely assistant in half.....

[peekaloo]

10. tee hee....all coke and mirrors, er smoke and mirrors

hell Snow was almost kicked out of his job but El Douche couldn't find anyone else foolish enough to accept his position. Rev up the lie mo-cheen.

[Cocoa]

8. CNBC says a lot of things

:eyes:

[norml]

11. It's a freepereconomics fest with this "Economic Summit" on today.

All of the worst of it is being sold. Does this "Economic Summit" have it's own thread? It's on C-Span also.

[donco6]

9. Does he really believe that crap?

Are we going to plunder some more nations? It's worked SO WELL in Iraq, after all.

[Love Bug]

13. Talk about a "Snow job"

[Radical Activist]

14. And I'm going to lose 10 pounds over the holidays

Promises are easy to make. What a bunch of crap.

[yellowcanine]

15. Wasn't Snow the one that was flogging the "Clinton staff trashed Air Force

One" story and then didn't have the balls to admit he had it all wrong?

[tanyev]

16. Here's how..

;)

Secretary of the Treasury John Snow has announced a new plan to fight this country's growing deficit. "We are going to replace the question on all Americans' tax returns which asks if you would like to contribute $3.00 to the Presidential Campaign Fund. We will instead be asking if you would like to donate $3.00 to paying down the deficit. These funds will then be invested in Powerball Lottos nationwide. We expect the revenue generated to take care of the deficit within five years."

Snow responded harshly to critics. "It is obvious from all of the corporations and very wealthy individuals clamoring to donate money to Republican candidates that federal funds are no longer necessary for our elections. And there is absolutely no truth in the accusation that this strategy will take money away from poor people. Let me emphasize that we will only be investing in jackpots that exceed $100 million. No poor person would know how to manage that much money anyway. After they buy a house, car, and a few restaurant meals, what else do they need?"

President Bush clearly approves of the new plan. "Yep, that's why Ol' Snowball gets to keep his placemat at the Cabinet Table a little while longer. I knew he had to have at least one good idea left in him," he yelled at reporters as he strode forcefully across the White House lawn to a waiting helicopter. After a pause to appreciate his own humor, he continued, "Naw, seriously, we're gonna look at using some of that lotto revenue to help out Social Security, too. Not that my plan needs any help, but maybe this will finally shut up those people that are still whining. What's that old saying? We can kill two birds with a bird in the hand." The president then gave a casual wave and vaulted athletically into the already ascending helicopter.

[sueh]

22. Here's another way...

Snow is going to find some computer savy programmer (oops, that could be almost anyone) to write a code in the central tabulator in the computer that computes the deficit. The code instructions could be "when the deficit hits X trillion dollars subtract X trillion." Poof! The deficit gets "cut" in half and maybe even show a surplus.

Tanyev, LOVED your story. You are very talented. You should apply for a job writing for the Daily Show.

[tanyev]

25. Thanks!

Your idea is almost as ludicrous as mine, but I fear may be much closer to reality.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[depakid]

17. Snow is mathematically challenged

that's probably why he's the only one that they can find who's willing to head the Treasury Department.

[GOPBasher]

18. First of all, cutting the DEFICIT is not good enough.

We can't just cut the *deficit*. That means we'll still be spending more money than we have and adding to the national debt. We'll just be adding to that debt at a slower rate . Wow!! What ambition! Secondly, as another poster pointed out, how exactly are we going to cut taxes, cut the deficit, keep spending the money we need in Iraq, and borrow for the SS privatization plan all at once? The answer, of course, is a complete destruction of the social safety net, the Department of Education, etc. This is what I expected if Bush got another term, and this is what I expect still.

[quaker bill]

19. I will bet he does it. He will cut taxes too.

I will also bet that benefits for the poor all but completely disappear in the process.

Schools? They are on their own.

Medicaid? Forget about it.

[EQPlayer]

20. Raising taxes, that's how they're going to do it

But they're calling it "tax reform" instead of "raising taxes." And it's going to be a lower/middle class tax increase instead of an increase in the marginal rates.

The two proposals they're throwing up as trial balloons are:

1) Eliminate the pre-tax nature of health insurance premiums paid by employees.

2) Eliminate the deduction for state income taxes.

No idea if either of these will pass, but if they pass the first one, the current health care "crisis" in this country will become a serious crisis. Some idiot on CNBC was saying this morning that whether or not the premium paid by the employee (the employee part of the total premium) is pre-tax or after-tax, people will choose health insurance over cash. Unfortunately, her statement shows a total lack of understanding of the nature of GROUP insurance. Why would employers bother with offering health insurance if there is no tax benefit to their employees (other than the altruistic nature of certains businesses).

Let's see, I'm an employer, I get a deduction whether I pay you a salary or contribute to your health insurance premium (same deduction -- general expense). (If I'm wrong on this point, any accountants out there, let me know.) Because my employees get a tax break on their portion, I offer them insurance. This costs me money in terms of human resources personnel, consulting expenses, etc. Now, no more tax break for my employees. So the $4,000 I was spending and the $2,000 they were spending on family coverage is all treated the same -- I as the employer get a $6,000 deduction since $4,000 is a general expense and the $2,000 is a salary expense, and the member gets taxed on the $2,000 the same as regular income. So there's less of an incentive for employers to continue to offer medical benefits as part of their employee benefits and more incentive for them just to bump everyone's salary by the $4,000 they were paying anyway.

Great, you say, more money for me. Well, if you're a 25 year old male, you're right. You can go buy health insurance cheaper than the extra money you got in your paycheck. If you're a 55 year old male with two teenage children, you're screwed. On the open market, $6,000 is not going to buy you the same insurance you were getting through your employer. And if you have diabetes and congestive heart failure -- forget about it. If you can even get insurance, it will cost you a lot more than the extra money you get in your paycheck.

The good news is the health insurance companies know this, and they form a very powerful lobby, so this is not likely to happen any time soon. But if it does, and employers bail on providing health insurance since it's no longer worth the headache, the ranks of the uninsured will increase, and we will have a true health care crisis in this country.

Think about this when you hear the proposal floated, and what it will do to lower income people who have health problems.

As for eliminating the state income tax deduction, that's a direct hit on your average middle class family with a mortgage. A family making $60,000 and paying $3,000 in state income tax would be hit with approximately a $750 - $1,000 tax increase. Thanks for that wonderful idea!

I welcome any comments/rebukes!

[LynnTheDem]

21. COOL! bush has a magic act! How much do tickets cost

to see his magic show and do you need to sign a Loyalty Oath?

[imenja]

23. hmmm. Hard to do that with the recent "Ominous" spending bill

14,000 pieces of pork, including money for a groundhog museum dedicated to Pucsatawney (sp?) Phil, not to mention the corporate welfare that abounds. He better start ASAP.

[Donna Zen]

24. They need to change the headline:

It should read:

We found the WMD and now we are telling you about the deficit. ~The Ministry of Truth

Yes, they do plan to raise taxes on the poor and middle class while cutting the federal spending side: think roads, schools, and body armour for the troops.