July 26, 2010 6:25 AM

Time to do the right thing

WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said that allowing tax cuts for the wealthy to expire would be “the responsible thing to do.”…. This is the last year for the tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush. Republicans have generally favored extending all of them. While Democrats are divided on the issue, President Barack Obama has favored allowing the expiration of cuts he says have applied to the wealthiest people…. “It’s responsible to let the tax cuts expire that just go to 2 percent to 3 percent of Americans, the highest earning Americans,” Geithner told ABC’s “This Week” in an interview broadcast Sunday. Doing so would show the world that the U.S. is “willing as a country now to start to make some progress” reducing long-term budget deficits, he said.

In 2001 and 2003, The Worst President EVER © convinced Congress and the American Sheeple that cutting taxes for the wealthiest among us was a smart, prudent, and reasonable thing to do in order to ensure that our economy remained sound and vibrant. A decade later, and we know now that all those tax cuts really managed to do was to completely hose our economy. The rich became richer, our budget surplus quickly because the largest deficit in our history, and our economy was detoured into the most severe and far-reaching economic downturn since the Great Depression. How’s that for some sound, principled Republican leadership, eh?

Now the Bush tax cuts are due to expire, and…quelle surprise…most Republicans (and a few Democrats…WTF??) want to keep them alive. Yes, kids…it really IS true- those who don’t know history are condemned to repeat it. Perpetuating one of the policy initiatives responsible for this country being where it is today certainly seems like…if not madness, then something closely akin to it. Then again, when protecting your wealthy benefactors trumps standing up for the middle class, this is the sort of silliness you can count on. This is what Republicans do…because you might as well admit it, they’re addicted to Bush (a sincere mea culpa to the late Robert Plant).

I’m by no means a fan of Timothy Geithner. Barack Obama’s selection of Geithner as Treasury Secretary was akin to appointing a fox to run the hen house. Still, as much as I wish Geithner would go away, I do have to applaud him for advocating driving a stake through the Bush tax cuts. There’s simply no sound economic or logical reason for extending the tax cuts…and Geithner, normally a champion of wealthy interests, recognizes this reality. In an era of exploding deficits (thanks, George W. Bush!!), it’s time to demand that the wealthy shoulder their share of the burden. It’s neither fair nor reasonable to expect that resolving the budget deficit be made the primary responsibility of the middle class.

At the risk of inviting cries of “SOCIALISM!!”…to those whom much is given, much is expected. It’s time to do the right thing and allow the Bush tax cuts to die the death they richly deserve. Frankly, if ANYONE is deserving of a tax cut, it’s the middle class, who have suffered the most from this recession and the hangover from Bushonomics. Of course, if you’re a Republican, that’s just another bailout, a handout to those who contribute little and deserve even less.

WE DESERVE BETTER. Do the right thing.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on July 26, 2010 6:25 AM.

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