Yes, I said it. Raise taxes. Or more accurately: repeal that damn tax cut. It's an option for Congress, one of their stated responsibilities. If the Democrats aren't going to pull the purse strings to cut off Bush's War of Terror, then they need to go in the other direction and show the American people just what's at stake here.
Whether it's repealing the whole thing or just for the top 1%, the Democratically-controlled Congress needs to respond to Bush's joke of a budget proposal(that's a joke in part because the outgoing Republican majority left them high and dry) and say, "Fine; but you're going to have to explain to the American people just what the hell you plan on doing with their money."
Eventually, something's gonna have to give...
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
We have a drunk president: drunk on power, drunk on hubris and drunk on ego. Too drunk to realize that his ideas for warfare have literally blown up in his face. Too drunk to accept the fact that you can't run a war on the cheap and expect to win. Too drunk to listen to anyone that he and his people haven't personally hired or vetted. And one way or another, someone's gotta take the car keys from this sad drunk man.
You know the Iraq story: American soldiers are dying everyday; our list of allies is bordering on a joke; anybody with a fruit salad who disagrees with the president is fired or labeled a troop hater. And in the mist of all of this, that arrogant SOB has the audacity to talk about "sacrifice." Well, I can only imagine the level of sacrifice that our soldiers and their families are making because Cobra Commander and his cabal are using every resource possible to minimize the emotional and psychological impact this war is having on the American people.
If taxes were raised to compensate for these outrageous expenses, maybe we would all have a better idea.
If running the war wasn't bad enough, Bush has decided against revoking his first-term tax cut. Mini-Me wannabe John McCain even went so far as to say that he didn't see a point in raising taxes, like it was some far-fetched plan reserved for battling an alien invasion. So the result of not having enough money to fight a war that shouldn't be fought anyway? Poor or nonexistent armor. More borrowing from foriegn countries, who will eventually close the tab. And an American public whose only real financial complaint about this whole mess is costing more at the pump.
Couldn't a raise in taxes help get all of our troops body armor, and make us less dependent on a foriegn country?
Bush didn't beat John Kerry by a landslide; his "mandate" was really a finger-wagging "clean up this fucking mess" from his supporters. He decided to do the opposite and act as if Kerry only got one state, declaring that his re-election justified his warmongering. Not too long afterwards, Bush started the familiar cycle of passing criticism of the war to to his generals, who spoke of nothing but roses and unicorns until the losses became to large to ignore, and when they said something different needs to be done they were promtly replaced by other generals with a rosier, more unicorn-loving outlook on things.
While the elections were thought to have brought an end to this pattern (and to Rumsfeld) Bush has decided to press on. James Baker came to his rescue, giving him a public and political out, and Bush decided to press on. Democrats threaten to cut funding, and Dick Cheney says "Bush will press on."
How much pressing would Bush be doing, I wonder, if he's busy answering questions about raised taxes?
Look: I don't want to raise taxes for raising taxes sake. Like everyone here, I work hard for my money and I don't want to see it frittered away. But cutting the funding (which I still think is a good idea) is a dangerous move considering Bush is just crazy enough to send our troops out anyway and leave them stranded so he can say that the Democrats abandoned them. The war itself will not stop as long as Bush is president, and we have too many wishy-washy Democrats and Bush-loving Republicans to get the votes needed to remove him and Cheney.
But really, isn't this a way to hit two birds with one stone? Can't they call it the "America Supports the Troops Tax Repeal" Resolution then go on TV and say, "If Bush really want his surge to work, then he needs to sign this legislation so the troops will have the the tools and resources that they need to secure victory?" I mean, how does he argue against that without looking like a dweeb?
When are Democrats (other than Harry Reid, of course) going to start throwing his own fucking words back at him?