On Wednesday, January 29, 2003, at 09:49 AM, John Ellingsworth wrote:
In another statement on the economy, Mr. Bush said that over the last twoYou may think this is a "funny comment" -- but this is exactly what any number of major economists have been saying for quite some time now... "The reason that the US economy is in the tank is solely because of the potential of war with Iraq."
years Saddam Hussein had systematically made the stock market go down and
demanded that the Iraqi strongman "make it go back up to where it used to
be -- or face the consequences."
The idea that corporate profits might be down because people have less money to spend because of high taxes doesn't occur to them. The idea that the Fed Funds rate is 1.25% but credit card rates are still at (and never budged from) 21+% doesn't slip into their field of view. The idea that people might not have jobs doesn't enter into their thinking. Their sole explanation for the economy tanking is the prospect of war. Their myopic view is fascinating.
Watch any of the talking heads on the TV and you will discover that all of the ills in this country will be resolved if we only embrace Saddam and bomb the be-gesus out of Kim. (You will get a different point of view from radio if you listen to anything other than PBS.)
It's no different than the anti-SUV or anti-drug commercials... The idea that something we find pleasurable might be funding "terrorists" is called a "travesty of the imagination," and a "laughable conclusion." Clearly all these folks think that the Mob is nothing more than Tony Soprano, and they never heard of Al Capone. [And we won't even mention the Indian Casino problem.]
To each and every one of you who believes that you should be paying higher taxes, I ask -- Why do you claim ANY deductions at all on your Income Tax return? Why do you belong to TIAA/CREF? Why do you have a 401K? Every one of those things is nothing more than a tax-doge. Just because it is legal does not make it either ethical or moral. If you are so concerned about tax-cuts, why not just send a check for $100 to the Treasury every week to help lower the defect. If all the people who complain about lowering taxes would simply pay the taxes that are due instead of looking for ways to pay lower taxes, the deficit would go away. [If 10% of the energy spent nation wide in tax avoidance efforts annually were used for anything else; the GDP would double overnight -- even after the costs of retraining hundreds of thousands of CPAs and Lawyers in more productive occupations.]
But I agree with Ted Kennedy's proposal this morning -- Things have changed in the past 6 months -- There is no-longer an external threat to the United States from any country in the world except North Korea. Saddam and the Ayatollah are our friends. The Talliban have been defeated. Osama's dead. We should stop all this airport screening nonsense and we should move to invade North Korea as soon as possible.
It's time to start handing out bowler hats and umbrellas.
T.T.F.N.
William H. Magill
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