Bush: "Solve the deficit...grow the economy...make my tax cuts permanent"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

Bush sets tone for the State of the Union
By David Jackson, USA TODAY



STERLING, Va. — Offering a sneak preview of his economic State of the Union, President Bush said Thursday that budget deficits do not justify tax increases.

"The best way to solve the deficit is to grow the economy, not run up your taxes," Bush told a friendly crowd, saying he would again press Congress to make his tax cuts permanent.

The White House Office of Management and Budget projected last week that the federal budget deficit will climb back above $400 billion when Bush proposes his annual budget in February. The OMB blamed the cost of Gulf Coast hurricane recovery.

Robert Bixby, executive director of the non-partisan Concord Coalition, a group that advocates a balanced budget, called it inconsistent for Bush to push permanent tax cuts when he is responsible for such major expenses as the Iraq war and the new Medicare drug benefit. "There's no connection between the administration's tax policies and its spending policies," Bixby said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-01-19-bush-speech_x.htm

[JeffR]

1. Robert Bixby is plain wrong

There's a direct connection. It all comes down to bankrupting the public treasury, getting government down to the appropriate size for Grover's bathtub. It's all of a piece.

[tatertop]

2. Only a sociopath could ask for permanent tax cuts at this time

This is beyond the call of garden variety criminal hubris.
That guy is seriously fucked up.

[NativeTexan]

10. Welcome to what we in Texas tried to......

....warn the rest of the country when he started purchasing the Republican nomination.

Well, the DEMOCRATIC TEXANS.....

[tatertop]

11. Thank you for trying

[patrice]

12. Some Dems who understand the meaning of the word . . .

YYYYyyyyeeeeeeehhhhhaaaaaaaahhhhh!!! - ??

[patrice]

3. This is "It" you guys. They're going for broke. Gambling it ALL Now!!

Have no doubt about what you think they won't do in order to achieve their ends - The New World Order is their Corporatocracy. The result will be that we will be literally owned by China.

[snippy]

4. This is inconsistent with what Bush "wrote" in his "autobiography."

In fact, in his campaign autobiography "A Charge To Keep" Bush defends his father's 1990 promise-breaking tax increase on the grounds that "many economists" credit it with today's economic recovery.

http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0500conbush.htm

[SpiralHawk]

5. Make higher the pie

catapult further the propaganda

[paulk]

6. he wants to take the focus off Iraq

he's going to talk about the (wonderful) economy and healthcare.

This guy is that out of touch?

SOTU will bring an immediate 5 point drop in his approval ratings.

[JohnnyRingo]

7. Buxh suggests that if you throw enough slop in the hog's trough

...there'll be more left for the poor piglets when they're done feeding.
But the rich hogs are asking for doggie bags.

Buxh's economic policies (and trickle down theories) assume that greed isn't a factor.
Giving tax cuts to the wealthy doesn't inject money into the economy, it just swells bank accounts.

Buxh pretends that when the owner of a business comes into a government subsidy they pour it right into the business through improvements and increased hiring.
Demand for a product is the only motive to expand a business.

Wealthy individuals don't increase their personal spending with a windfall either, like working people do.

And Buxh knows it.

[gratuitous]

8. The deficit problem WAS solved, Stupidhead

Then you fucked up Clinton's work with your unrestrained pouring of the Treasury into the pockets of your overrich friends. How come they aren't pitching in to "grow the economy" but are instead sending their wealth overseas?

[patrice]

13. Say It grat!!!

How come, Indeed!!! - Because they've got too many bonuses for their clique to cover and they've got to keep all of their buddies' bubbles floating.

[Dulcinea]

9. That's the only reason he's even in office.

Cutting taxes for the wealthy & corporations is all he & his backers want. Boy George doesn't give a damn about anything else.