Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Don't Blame Me, I Voted For Kerry -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bearcatbob who wrote (15840)	4/18/2004 7:53:59 PM
From: American Spirit	Respond to of 81568

DeLay Opens House with the $pecial Intere$t Buffet by Aaron Crowell On his first day as Majority Leader, Republican Tom Delay, wasted little time in revealing the specialties of his House. In his first substantive act as House majority leader, Mr. Delay introduced new rules for the 108th Congress that were voted into law with the support of every Republican member. What were the rule changes the Delay Republicans made? To open the House up to public scrutiny? To enforce term limits? To limit the access of lobbyists to the back rooms. Not exactly. The rules of Tom DeLay's House are clear: pay to feast. So the Delay Republicans acted immediately to: Gut House ethics rules to enable lobbyists to cater fine meals for members' offices. Carving a loophole in the 1995 Gift Ban (passed by a 422-6 vote) "big enough to drive a delivery truck through," this rule change allows members to exceed the normal $50 dollar limit on gifts of "perishable food" to their offices. Now, the limit will apply not to the congressperson's office as a whole, but to each staff member in that office individually. Now grateful drug company lobbyists can lavish a $1,000 banquet on Mr. Delay's office as long as there are 20 staffers there to share it with him. Although he voted for the Gift Ban in 1995, Delay called it a "ridiculous charade of public virtue." In the Delay house, venality needn't bother to pay any tribute to virtue. End embarrassing votes to raise the national debt. Now that Bush policies are producing deficits as far as the eye can see, conservatives are in the uncomfortable position of voting to raise the national debt limit every few months. Originally, conservatives demanded a separate vote before the debt limits could be exceeded to serve as a roadblock to big spending liberals. But now these embarrassing votes are likely to get downright mortifying if any portion of the president's new tax giveaway passes. Ever ready to abandon principle for partisanship, Delay found the answer. If you can't get rid of the growing debt, get rid of the embarrassing vote. Under the new rules, if a spending or tax bill is passed that requires an increase in the debt limit there's no need for a separate vote. The vote on the bill represents an automatic vote to increase the debt. Tax cut and borrow anyone? Mandate voodoo economic analysis of budget bills so tax cuts appear cost-free. The "dynamic scoring" method of analyzing the budgetary impact of tax cuts has long been favored by practitioners of what Daddy Bush called "voodoo economics." Basically, it is a way of claiming that tax cuts will generate increased tax revenues because of economic growth. Presto, Delay's House needn't worry about how much money will be lost when President Bush cuts taxes. With a "dynamic" approach, giving tax breaks to wealthy contributors can be sold as not costing anything. But don't bet your Social Security on it. If this nonsense sounds familiar, it should: this was exactly how Ronald Reagan sold his huge tax cuts that helped triple the national debt in eight years. It only took 2 hours for Tom Delay to put these deceptive rules on the books - with the support of every single Republican. Imagine what they'll do with 2 years to work. "Welcome to Delay's Special Interest Buffet: would you like some tax cuts with that?"