[quote=“Tigerman”][quote=“twocs”]You got the facts wrong. Mother Theresa recently posted the photographs of their previous encounters: Edwards meets Edwards
Cheney has met Edwards at least three times: at a prayer breakfast in 2001, at Elizabeth Dole’s swearing-in ceremony in 2003, and backstage at Meet the Press.[/quote]
OK, so they met thrice, not twice, prior to the debate. My statements above still stand.
Bush wants to lower taxes and simplify them at the same time. Kerry has “complained” that his taxes are too low all the while using every deduction available in our current overcomplicated tax law.
If Kerry really thinks his taxes are too low, why is he opposed to simplifying the tax code - a move that would do away with many of the tax loopholes Kerry utilizes now to reduce his tax burden?[/quote]
You can admit that you made a mistake, but Bush can’t talk about his mistakes for fear of embarrassing some of his mistakes (appointees).
It’s not a mature argument that Kerry should pay the wrong amount (too much) of taxes because he sees the tax law as wrong. The reason Kerry’s taxes were so low is that he took out a $6 million dollar second mortgage on his house to pay for his primary race. Bush didn’t need to worry about that.
Bush planned to tighten some loopholes this year (post), but most of the cut comes at the expense of US infrastructure. $45 billion in eliminated loopholes, but $33 billion of which is a loophole in name, in which local governments raise money by leasing out their subways, bridges, waterworks and other infrastructure to private investors who get tax breaks. A Washington Metro system spokesman said such a change could cost the subway $16 million or more a year, when it already faces large, unfunded capital needs.
Simplifying the tax codes has been House Majority Leader Richard Gephard’s (Dem) goal for thirty years. He has been pushing to simplifying the tax codes since long before the GOP wanted to. But simplifying tax codes in the past has brought criticism for opening new loopholes. I didn’t hear Kerry saying, “Simplifying the tax codes is inherently wrong.” I just hear you saying that Kerry opposes them. I feel taxes are best dealt with bipartisanly.
Gephard’s idea is not to simplify and cut the taxes of the highest paid people. Gephard said, “My view of economics is that you build from the bottom up and not the top down,” he said. “People talk about ‘trickle-down’ being effective, but it takes a hundred years. But ‘trickle-up’ is anti-gravity. It goes straight up, immediately,” he said.
The people of the US voted out the Republicans and brought in the Democrats, perhaps frustrated by the slow progress of trickle down economics. Now we have another Republican president, but looking carefully at Bush, I’m sure most people can see that you get some good and some bad. He says the good is good enough, but I’ve found it hard to trust him like I did four years ago.
