Let me get this straight: the rich deserved a tax cut during a surplus because we had extra money ..

[Empowerer]

And now they deserve a tax cut because we're in financial difficulty and have no money.

You can't raise taxes during boon times and can't raise them during hard times.

Ummm - am I the only one missing something?

[dkf]

1. The only time you should not raise taxes or should cut taxes is in a recession.

Other than that any time else is ok.

[SharonAnn]

2. We never had "extra money". We should've been paying down the debt.

But we didn't.

We should've looked at how the tax cuts would increase the debt. But we didn't.

We should've looked at how the wars would increase the debt. But we didn't.

[Empowerer]

3. Exactly

Another question - if tax cuts are such a smart move, why did the 10 years of tax cuts not keep us out of a recession?

[phleshdef]

4. Let us not forget what we all were saying when they started the war in Iraq.

You don't go to war without raising taxes. Its one of those "oldest rules in the book" type of things. Had we never gone to Iraq to begin with or had they at least raised taxes back up after going there, we probably wouldn't be having this conversation.

[LiberalFighter]

5. They (Republicans) complain about the poor and lower income being lazy.

Yet, they want the super rich to get something by doing nothing (being lazy). Even though the poor and lower income work much harder and their lives are more difficult.

[Marsala]

6. It's simple. The rich deserve tax cuts, period.

That is the starting point of Republican economic arguments. Everything else is merely to justify it.