Estate Tax House Debate

This is probably the best CSPAN I’ve seen all year.  The estimate from Democrats is the repeal would cost over $700 billion over 10 years, the estimate from Republicans is around $250 billion.  Democrats are pointing out that all this lost revenue will be borrowed from China and other countries, and Republicans haven’t addressed that point once in an hour so far.  Rangel (D-NY) stated that it doesn’t matter to Republicans whether or not they retain the majority, that it doesn’t matter to Republicans whether the current bill will only affect 7500 people, but instead that this is merely another step in a long effort to erase FDR’s legacy, to starve the government so that future Congresses have no money to work with.  It’s no secret that this strategy is at play here, having been documented again and again (Grover Norquist comes to mind).

The worst thing that ever happened to this idea of theirs was the ballanced budgets of the 90s.  Proof that it can be done!  It happened!  We all saw it, we all saw both sides of the aisle come together and celebrate the accomplishment.  Well, that was unacceptable to those who call the shots today, and so the fiscal policy of our government these past six years has been to open the door to looters, waste as much money as possible, then “light a match” (think of the restaurant in ‘Goodfellas’).  Burn the house down, then simply walk away. 

It has nothing to do with you and I, but with a contingent of powerfull men who have been frothing at the mouth for decades, just itching for the chance to finally take the federal government and carve it up in a laboratory.  We saw it in Iraq with the ‘Project for the New Millenium’ – they used our military and the Iraqi people like a chemistry set, you know, to see what would happen.  Like a child pulling the limbs off of a daddy long legs, there’s much we can learn apparantly from taking things apart, even if there’s no intention of ever putting it back together.

These people don’t have the skills necessary to make a positive difference in this country.  All they have are ideas.  Judging by the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan today – judging by the federal defecit – judging by the fact that in 2006, Iran and North Korea regularly thumb their noses at our President – judging by the fact that our federal government failed miserably during Hurricane Katrina – judging by the fact that our education system is worse than that of China and India…just go down the line and it’s clear that Republicans aren’t smart enough to govern, only smart enough to loot. 

Like lemmings they follow one another in lock step in whatever direction they’re told to go.  Today they’re saying that small businesses are disappearing because of the estate tax!  Like they’ve never driven by a large chain store in their entire lives.  It’s simply the US population getting what they vote for.  Having been taken in by the notion that liberty has more to do with what your neighbors are doing or watching on television, or whether or not they pray before going to sleep at night.  These people believe in boogey-men, these people believe in heaven and hell, and just about everything imaginable that flies in the face of what used to be great about this country. 

Now we’re becoming just like every other failed social experiment since the dawn of time.  The wealth is being hoarded at the top, the population is growing dumber by the day, and the hoople-heads are waiting patiently for God to descend from the clouds and make it all better.  It’s happening right in front of my eyes here on CSPAN.  Both sides of the aisle agree that 7,500 estates are at stake here in a country of almost 300 million.  Republicans have been repeating over and over that this is all about small business, as if they want us to believe that there are only 7,500 owners of such businesses out there. 

But what occurs to me right now is that half of the American population is slow enough in the head to believe such a thing.  Just like the dimwitted peasants throughout history who have fought all of the wars, given part of their check to the church and fallen for tricks just like this.  Because there aren’t many Republicans out there who will vote Democrat if this bill goes through…and as long as the beast is starved enough to keep them ignorant, as long as there’s no money for education or college loans, it will continue to happen. 

Side note:  These same Republicans who are hooking up the richest among us today are 100% against raising the minimum wage above $5.15 an hour.