To the editor:
"You know, Paul, Reagan proved deficits don't matter. We won the midterms. This is our due." That's what Dick (GFY) Cheney said to former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neil after O'Neil raised opposition to Bush's tax cuts for the rich. Oh, and what a "due" they got, didn't they? The Bush tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 will cost us over $2 trillion. Then, of course, there is the war in Iraq that has been estimated at over $3 trillion, throw in the trillion-dollar gift Republicans gave to big pharmaceuticals through Medicare Part D and you get an increase in debt under Bush/Cheney of $6 trillion. Just another example in the long list of Republican hypocrisy.
Then there's the even more hypocritical T-Baggers who actually protested taxes on tax day when 95 percent of Americans were just given a tax break. Apparently, only 12 percent of these well-informed voters knew they got a tax break. That's what happens when you get all your news from a political action committee called Fox News.
With the taxes for the richest 2 percent scheduled to expire, the party of "no" are spinning the "class war" lie. Yeah, ask the rich to pay a few measly points more and it's a class war. The fact that 30 years ago the richest 1 percent of American households took in about 9 percent compared to almost 25 percent today seems to escape them in the deregulated, leave no billionaire behind, policies Republicorp adores. To be fair, Republicans do actually represent people; it's just these people are now called "corporations" and the Citizens United ruling grants them even more rights than you or I as they pour limitless cash into Republican coffers.
Republicans are the party of fiscal responsibility? How about a little reality check? The largest increases in our national debt occurred under George W. Bush with an increase of +20.5 percent; next would be Ronald Reagan (+20.5 percent); then George H.W. Bush (+13.1 percent), contrasted with Clinton who decreased it by -9 percent and Carter by -3 percent. But, hey, these are just facts and when it comes to Republicans, facts are not to be acknowledged, just ignored. Now these corporate socialists are using the deficits they themselves created to attack Social Security. Can't wait to see the inevitable T-Bagger sign, "Keep your gub-ment hands off my Social Security!" By the way, where were these imposters of liberty when the Republicans were treading on us, wire-tapping our phones and suspending habeus corpus? Obamacare is largely based on Romneycare, yet nobody spit on Mitt or slashed his propane line.
I hope independents and young voters take stock of what depths the party of Palin, Limbaugh, Beck and overt racist Newt Gingrich will stoop to claw back into power. Their leaked, strategy memo unearthed last March says it all: "an aggressive campaign capitalizing on 'fear' of President Barack Obama and a promise to 'save the country from trending toward socialism.'"
Should we add greed, lies, hate and fear-mongering to their list family values?
Tim Kane
West Newbury
Wild weather for Memorial Day weekend
Inspiration for the class of 2012
Colorado College Student Shot While Trespassing
Will Smith & Josh Brolin on "Men in Black 3"
80-Year-Old Skydiver's Nightmare Jump
JWoww Sizzles in a Black Bikini
Sliders on the Grill
Cruise ship crunch
Backstage With Beyonce
Ultimate Creamy Potato Salad
Pope's Personal Butler Under Arrest
Jenny McCarthy's New Man
Tyler's Classic Coleslaw
Britney Spears Under X Factor Fire
Flesh-Eating Bacteria Victim Hits Milestone
Hurricanes and Heat Waves Across America
Kristen Stewart Is Red Hot
Shark Attacks Australian Fishing Boat
Bradley out for playoffs
Kayaker Survives Trip Over Washington Waterfall
