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Politics : John EDWARDS for President -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JakeStraw who wrote (701)	2/25/2004 9:32:20 AM
From: ChinuSFO	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1381

This is a Republican thread in the garb of a John Edwards thread. You folks have it backwards. Even the Republican Congress does not support Bush. I will post anything anywhere to ensure that the Democrats remain united, something that Howard Dean wants and as a former Deaniac I am going to make sure we get what Dean wanted: which is Bush out of the White House. If you have anything to say against what I said, Bring It On. Budgetary common sense Add tax cuts to the list of differences President Bush is facing with the Republican-controlled Congress -- the size of the highway bill; his request for a virtual freeze on most government functions; and the amount he proposes to spend on defense and homeland security. The president wants his tax cuts made permanent. But Republican lawmakers, in a polite rebuff to Bush, are planning a much less ambitious tax agenda. Concerned about the deficit and political appearance, in all probability they will not even seek a legislatively doable 10-year extension of his tax cuts. Tax measures that sunset in 10 years need only a 51-vote majority in the Senate. The problem with the 10-year time frame is that it shows the deficit rising rapidly again, even in the unlikely event that Bush succeeds in halving it over the next five years. Congress will likely settle on a five-year budget, but that presents another problem. Tax cuts in that range can be filibustered in the Senate, which the Republicans would need an out-of-reach 60 votes to override. That means Republicans are unlikely to pick a fight over extending last year's cuts in capital gains and dividend income, now scheduled to lapse in 2008. The Republican leaders will likely content themselves with extending the expanded child tax credit, tax relief for married couples and the expanded 10 percent tax bracket, which are set to expire Dec. 31 and which the Democrats would find hard to oppose -- and shouldn't. That's a far cry from making $1.7 trillion in tax cuts permanent. After three years of huge tax cuts and huge spending increases, it would be no bad thing if Congress took a deep breath and took stock of how we went from a $127 billion surplus during Bush's first year in office to a projected deficit of $521 billion this year. In trying to sell the idea of making his tax cuts permanent last week, the president sounded philosophical about a likely setback. "The Congress giveth and the Congress taketh away," he said. Indeed it does. Publication Date: 02-25-2004 cincypost.com