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Politics : Impeach George W. Bush -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: bearshark who wrote (15327)	10/12/2002 4:53:24 AM
From: jttmab	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 93284

Sorry I took this long to respond. I was called away unexpectedly. The issue of taxation is complex and I try not to think about it. The complexity makes it easy to use one lined rhetoric to manipulate the voters. The GOP was using lines like the "greatest tax rise in history" to stimulate the middle class. In fact, it was a tax increase that was primarily targetted at the upper income levels...generally, the same group that the middle class asserts doesn't pay their fair share. [I don't happen to agree with that sentiment, but it's the conventional view] On the other hand that tax increase on the upper level income group didn't hamper their ability to increase income or wages. The higher brackets continued to increase income and wealth at a higher rate than the lower income group. Even in this pseudo-recession, last years numbers show that the $150K and up group continued to show an increase in income while those below it, showed a drop in income. That suggests that there is no reason to lower the tax rates of the upper income levels; they are economically a healthy group. I like the idea of a flat tax rate that can be adjusted for current economic conditions. That's an appealing concept, but IMO it's just not practical. To flatten the tax liability, you have to increase the lower income tax liabilities to make up for it. When you do that, you diminish the buying power of the lower and/or middle income groups which drives consumer spending. Watch Mr. Bush tonight--if you can--and view him as a politician. I did, it was a mistake. Absolutely nothing new. I am just now appreciating his competence as a politician. His "success" as a politician has two components. (1) Tell them what they want to hear and do whatever you want. (2) Use fear as a motivator. The first is a Ralph Reed invention, at least in it's extreme use of it. The later works very well as a distractor both to the press and to the public. jttmab