Dear Editor:
More American voters than the Bush Plan endorsed the Democratic Party agenda in the 2000 elections. Why are we giving Bush an important role in setting the Congressional legislative schedule?
Bush has no policy mandate on any issue. He got less votes than his opponent. The numbers in the 2000 election rejected his message. No political theater changes this basic fact.
Congressional Democrats should be setting the legislative priorities and agenda for the nation. The voters have spoken. The Democrats have the mandate. The Bush Republicans are a minority. In America, the majority should rule. Bush holds the office thanks to the Republican majority on the Supreme Court. No more Supreme Court Justices like those should be permitted to join our highest Court. Congressional Democrats should use their numbers to guarantee moderate, non-partisan Supreme Court appointees. The title of President does not make you the national leader. Votes make you the national leader. Al Gore is the national leader and his ideas should prevail.
The Bush tax plan should be trashed immediately. The McCain Reform Republicans and the Democrats agree on tax cuts that are moderate. Both agree that the tax cuts should be targeted to the middle classes and the working poor. These groups need the help desperately. The wealthiest 1 percent simply needs no help. Bush wants to give them over 40 percent of the total benefits. The other 99 percent of us get less than 60 percent of the total tax cuts.
The Congressional Budget office reported that the wealthiest 1 percent of American tax payers increased their after tax incomes by 115 percent between 1977 and 1999. The middle class saw increases of 8 percent while the working poor saw decreases of 9 percent during the same period. As you can see, the very rich do not seem to need a tax cut. Besides, tax cuts to the middle class and the working poor are the most effective way of using tax cuts to stimulate the economy.
The McCain Republicans and Democrats agree on campaign finance reforms as well as paying down the national debt quickly. It is clear that some Republicans can work with the Democrats to the benefit of all Americans. It is not clear if Bush is one of those Republicans. It looks as if Bush may merely want to be President for all the Super Rich Americans…like his oil-rich family.
Is the Bush “One Percent” Tax Plan a political pay-off? Can this be a campaign finance or bribery scandal? Is it the biggest case of political bribery in American history? Will the Bush family gain financial advantage from his tax program?
Stephen S. Crockett & Al Lawrence
Co-hosts “Current Affairs-News Talk Program”
WEKR Radio