So Bush wants to RAISE taxes now??

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/ALLPOLITICS/02/16/bush.socialsecurity.ap/index.html

PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire (AP) -- President Bush says he has not ruled out raising taxes on those who earn more than $90,000 a year to help bolster Social Security's finances.

Under the current system, payroll taxes are paid only on the first $90,000 in wages. Bush has repeatedly said that he opposes raising taxes, but his advisers have been intentionally vague about whether he would also rule out subjecting a greater share of pay to the existing tax.

---snip---

This is why you A) don't get bullied into the campaign bullshit of "well Kerry never laid out plan" without B) not firing the exact same thing back at them. This was the plan all along, but no one really pushed Bush on the details of exactly where the money would come from.

Of course, that's fine. We'll just trumpet loudly, clearly, and frequently that the Republican Party loves to raise taxes.

[CWebster]

1. It was the plan all along

It was part of the fix made under Reagan to raise payroll taxes and then come 2018 raise taxes for the wealthy. Bush, as advocate for his class, had to nip that plan, but can he afford class war?

Another thing, why isn't the mess Britain made of their privatization scheme ever referenced in this debate?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

2. Because they're European.

What do THEY know? :eyes:

[GOPBasher]

3. Well he's saying he might take out the cap.

I would LOVE this, as long as he doesn't increase the payroll tax *rate* for everyone. Just taking out the cap would increase taxes on the upper middle class and the rich. It's not the best thing in the world, but given our current fiscal crisis, we need money to come from somewhere. I would prefer that he just got rid of all of his stupid tax cuts for billionaires, but hey, it's Bush.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

4. Yeah, but we can seize this as an opportunity

It doesn't matter who he raised it on. We need to hammer Republicans on the fact that they RAISED TAXES when they said they wouldn't.

[GOPBasher]

6. Well, I agree, because

the sheeple are way too stupid to understand the fiscal situation betweent the treasury and the SS administration. Since they can't think at any higher than a 2nd grade level, we need to resort to incredibly simple arguments, like, "Hey, he raised taxes. Neener neener neener!" (Then we put our thumb up to our nose and wag our fingers.)

[Rockholm]

7. This "cap" gets raised every year.

[GOPBasher]

10. But I think it should be eliminated completely.

The rich should pay more all together, to the SS administration AND to the treasury.

[Inland]

5. Bush's goal is to eliminate taxes on investment/inheritance income

So raising taxes on wages isn't going to matter. Rich guys will be thrilled to pay a few thousand on the wages they make, for a tax cut in the millions they make on interest, cap gains, inheritance, dividends, etc.

[WildClarySage]

8. Nah, this is a threat pure and simple

Privatize social security like I want or I swear to God I'm a-gonna raise taxes!!!

[Blue_Roses]

9. that has to be the most

distgusting picture:picture:

[CWebster]

11. Good article

"It would be relegated to the scrap heap that the president wants to use for Social Security, another legacy of the New Deal. Privatization has become the grand mantra of this administration, ranking equally with American military superiority abroad.

There are links. Since we moved, post-Vietnam, to a professional military, many duties once handled by military personnel are contracted out to private industry. In Iraq today, tasks ranging from food service to bodyguards for high-ranking officials have been privatized. That may be fine in some instances, but it further strengthens what the general-turned-president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, termed the "military-industrial complex." And it's very good politics — military units cannot contribute to campaigns, but private contractors can, and do at very high rates..."

"Consider the future: Payment on the debt is required; basic Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are required; and the military is in the midst of another war to promote democracy.

There is virtually nothing left to pay for federal programs most Americans support, from parks to clean water to border patrols to scientific research.

What to do? Well, they could be privatized (sell BPA to Enron). Or simply nibbled to death. Hence the term, "starving the beast," coined by the anti-tax zealot Grover Nordquist. The president's new budget takes us down that road, a bite here and a bite there.

George W. Bush is one of two radical presidents in my lifetime. The first, Franklin D. Roosevelt, saved the poor and middle classes and built a nation of opportunity. Bush is destroying FDR's legacy and waging class warfare on behalf of wealthy Americans who don't need his help."





http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0216-27.htm

[John_H]

12. This is about wayward Rethugs in congress

"Look. I don't have to get elected again. You do. If you don't sign on to my plan, I'll send over a compromise that raises taxes. Then you'll have to vote for it."

Dems should use this tactic to sow more dissent among the rethugs in congess--"The president says he won't rule out raising taxes. Do you?"

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

13. Exactly. Tie it to every Republican out there.

Force them to either turn on Bush or raise taxes, which WILL be used by us in future elections every time they try to use the "tax raising liberal" line.