Tax Cuts Hurt So Bad
By James Soloman
Staff Writer

It appears that the Bush Administration has a tax cut fetish. Even though the total costs of the war and reconstruction of Iraq are as yet unknown, the administration continues to push for a 725 billion dollar tax cut over the next ten years. (The Senate recently voted to slash the tax cut in half). The vast majority of this money will immediately benefit the wealthiest Americans.

There appear to be two possible reasons for supporting the tax cut. The first is an unshakeable faith that tax cuts for the wealthy will pay for themselves in increased economic growth, which will increase revenues. This theory, which did not hold when Reagan slashed taxes, received another blow when the Congressional Budget Office declared that new revenues from the tax cut would do little to reduce the predicted five-year trillion-dollar deficit. The CBO report stated, "The overall macroeconomic effect of the proposals in the president's budget is not obvious."

The other rationale for this tax cut is that it will cut government revenue so much that the government will be invariably forced to shrink. Conservatives will be able to irreparably harm programs they don't like without having to suffer the political consequences of actively promoting their reduction.

In either case, given the fiscal and economic state of the country, this tax cut is grossly irresponsible. The already extraordinary costs of war could skyrocket , further sending the budget deficit, and therefore interest rates through the roof. The poor, who need this money most, will be disproportionately affected by the necessary budget cuts.

Finally, there is the administration's disgusting use of the war to justify these tax cuts. It is reprehensible that the administration would use the efforts and deaths of young American men and women to justify giving money to the wealthy. White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer has urged the passage of Bush's tax cut, "to make sure that the economy can grow and that jobs can be created, so that when our men and women in the military return home, they'll have jobs to come home to." not only is this politicization of the war repulsive, it's intellectually dishonest. Under a 1994 law, employers must reinstate reservists in similar positions when they return from service, unless the company can document severe hardship. Apparently this is how President Bush intends to "change the partisan tone of Washington."