Bush says tax cuts helping workers--Reuters

[Demeter]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060904/pl_nm/bush_dc_1&printer=1


By Caren Bohan




President Bush on Monday pitched his tax cuts as the best way to help U.S. workers, but said the country's dependence on foreign oil was threatening economic growth. Bush, whose Republican Party faces a struggle to keep control of Congress in November elections, has been campaigning by defending the war in Iraq and now its record on the domestic economy.

A Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives or the Senate would undermine Bush's ability to push his agenda in his last two years, including plans to make hefty tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 permanent. "We ought to make the tax relief permanent. I like it when people are working for a living, have more after-tax money in their pocket," Bush said as he marked Labor Day by touring a maritime training center on Maryland's southern shoreline.

Bush administration officials have pointed to data like last week's employment report -- which showed a solid payroll gain of 128,000 in August and a dip in the unemployment rate to 4.7 percent from 4.8 percent -- as evidence that Bush's tax cuts put the economy on a strong growth path.
Bush's 2001 tax cut package slashed individual income tax rates and set a phased-in reduction in estate taxes. The centerpiece of the 2003 package was cuts in dividends and capital gains taxes. Most of Bush's tax cuts are set to expire after 2010.

Democrats say the tax reductions have mainly benefited the wealthy and have contributed to a widening of the income gap. They also contend the economic expansion has failed to help most workers, who have seen meager pay increases even as they face surging costs for essentials like gasoline and healthcare. The income of U.S. households, adjusted for inflation, rose 1.1 percent to $46,326 in 2005, according to a Census Bureau report released last week. Despite the increase, income was down 0.5 percent compared with 2001, the year Bush took office.

NOTHING LIKE WATCHING A MORON TRY TO DEFEND TWO INDEFENSIBLE POLICIES SIMULTANEOUSLY!

[Mythsaje]

1. Bush says that the moon is made of cheese...

Supporters say he's obviously right.

Everyone else asks "what the hell is he THINKING?"

Business as usual.

[Monkeyman]

2. Tell that to small town America they are dying out

[sutz12]

3. Yep, they are.....

They are helping workers in India, China, Taiwan, Indonesia.

They're helping lots of workers. :sarcasm:

[ShockediSay]

14. Funny how the bottom 80-85% of the workers can't make ends meet

to buy a home

to support a family

for health care/insurance

to support a home (cost of energy; STATE & LOCAL TAXES SHIFTED ONTO THE MUNICIPALITIES FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!)

[Ready4Change]

4. Yes, the Bush tax cuts do help workers.

CEO's of huge corporations are workers.

You don't really think he meant ALL workers, do you?

[Jack Rabbit]

5. He also said there were WMDs in Iraq

. . . and that the mobile labs had been found.

[Deja Q]

6. Pity 'umployment' only measures people getting the UI checks...

Democrats are right on this one.

Meanwhile, more Americans are losing their jobs thanks to greedy or generally unscrupled people who don't give a fuck about their infrastructure. It's as if they want to destroy everything, in which case we should all sit back and enjoy the show because there is nothing we can really do to prevent it.

:popcorn:

I'll get the butter.

[peacebird]

7. "helping" US workers discover the joys of the SIMPLE LIFE

where there simply isn't enough money for food, medical bills, a roof over their heads, or their childrens education.

:sarcasm:

[mcscajun]

8. Hmmm....let's see now...How did his tax cuts help this worker...

...I had a good job and was on track to start saving for retirement, thinking about travel and making some home improvements, at least until early 2003. Then my job went to India.

Now I have lots of free time and a part-time job. Yeah. I'm SO much better off now.
All Praise to Our Leader and his wise tax policies!

Don't forget to read the fine print...

Fuck you, George.

[grilled onions]

9. .."I like it when people are working for a living.."

Yes I'm sure he does although he probably can't relate to the concept very well. Work is less stressful when you are watching it from the sidelines while actually having a better paycheck then the workers.:mad:

[rodeodance]

10. he is such a folky fibber.

[Sherman A1]

11. Well, I feel so much better now.

Thank You Mr. Bush.

Yawn!

[flordehinojos]

12. bush cannot talk straight ever.

he may be able to walk a straight line if he has not been drinking. he cannot talk straight (tell the truth) ever. imagine having to live with such a load of crap.

[stepnw1f]

13. He's a Lying Sick Bastard

just like his mommy.

[judaspriestess]

15. Tax cuts my ass

after its all said and done, people are paying up to 50% in taxes when you include all the state and local taxes.

If I make over a certain dollar amount on my paycheck I will be taxed 33%. where is my tax cut asshole?

[gizmo1979]

16. Just once I'd like the Bushie's

to tell it like it is.Tell us we thought the tax cuts would help but they haven't and that we'll try something else.Don't keep putting lipstick on a pig.We're not as dumb as they think we are.

[China_cat]

17. Since Bush's tax cuts took effect

Our income has been reduced by more than half but the taxes we pay have more than tripled. See, there's this nice little loophole called the alternative minimum tax that more and more supposedly middle class earners are falling into.

http://www.fairmark.com/amt/topten.htm

We're now having to pay an average of $2500 OVER AND ABOVE what is withheld (and we claim 0 deductions) just on federal tax. Then we get hit with extra on state tax.

Oh yes, his policies have really helped working people. (I don't really think I need the sarcasm smilie here, do I?)

[Human Torch]

18. I can think of a few things I'd like to see trickle down on Junior...

"I like it when people are working for a living..."

"...since I CLEARLY DO NOT..."



I know what you did last summer...JACK SQUAT.

:patriot:

[truthisfreedom]

19. always remember to look at the truth of it... the numbers tell all...

in 2001, when bush took office, the rate of incarceration in the US was 470 per 100,000. based on 2001 population numbers, 1,339,500 were in prison.

in 2006, our prison population rate is now a whopping 724 per 100,000. http://tinyurl.com/zkw7v based on our present population, that's roughly 2,200,000 people in US prisons now.

[WhiteTara]

20. when the speech was finished I wonder if he

cut a big fart and laughed insanely.

[brentspeak]

21. Are CEO's who lay off thousands of employees "workers"?

[high density]

22. Yeah I'm sure everybody is still living off of that $300

Between that and the dividend/capital gains tax cuts, "American workers" must not know what to do with all this money.

[bdamomma]

23. bush can shut the "F" up, he is so delusional

[acmavm]

24. bush** calls himself the pResident of the United States. That's not

true either.

[jaysunb]

25. PLEASE, PLEASE, KEEP SAYING IT !

:evilgrin: