'We're Running Out of Time'
by Bill Shein
Rep. Bill Thomas, the California Republican
who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, has delivered
an important message to President Bush and the GOP-led
Congress: "We're running out of time."
Quoted in The Wall Street Journal on Monday, to what
was Thomas referring? Are Republican lawmakers "running
out of time" to sign up for "Congressman Bill's
Summer Knitting Circle?" Or did he mean that the
president is "running out of time" to RSVP for
the annual Capitol Hill ice cream social?
No, Thomas was suggesting, very plainly, that time is
running out for congressional approval of any more outrageous
tax cuts and misguided spending bills that have been hallmarks
of the Bush era.
With the president's approval rating in the low 30s,
voters are unhappy about virtually everything: The war
in Iraq, the economy, the Katrina response and follow-up,
the Medicare drug benefit fiasco, massive budget deficits,
and legislative priorities that continue to favor the
interests of big business and the affluent.
So, credit Rep. Thomas with the political savvy to see
the writing on the wall: The American people are no longer
fooled by deceptive economic statistics (e.g. "average
household income") that suggest everyone's doing
well, when, in fact, it's mostly a narrow elite enjoying
a tremendous increase in income and wealth.
Today, working people feel the impact of declining real
wages, skyrocketing health care costs, mounting personal
debt, and gas prices sent suddenly higher by the president's
unnecessary saber rattling toward Iran. And our soldiers
and military families are painfully aware of the real
costs of going to war with the kind of deceptive rhetoric
that George Orwell once called "pure wind."
All of this spells trouble in an election year, especially
for the Republican majorities in the House and Senate
(but also for Democrats who supported tax cuts and the
war in Iraq).
That's why last week Karl Rove was tasked with crafting
a win-at-all-costs fall campaign strategy. If Rove's past
is prologue, the 2006 mid-term elections will feature
his trademark mixture of fear, division, intolerance,
mindless flag-waving, and unabashed injection of religion
into politics.
Given the serious challenges facing our nation at home
and abroad, it's also a safe bet that Rove's campaign
buckshot will be aimed at the root of America's problems:
Gay people!
Bill Frist, the Senate majority leader and erstwhile
presidential candidate, is eager to help. The Tennessee
doctor has scheduled Senate debate on an anti-equal-marriage
amendment, a constitutional ban on the widespread scourge
of flag burning, and new abortion restrictions —
none of which are likely to become law. But which may
help motivate some conservative voters.
If congressional legislation were subject to truth-in-labeling
requirements, Frist's legislative time-wasters would be
lumped together as "The Leave Every Real Problem
Behind Act of 2006."
Inspired by Rep. Thomas's "running out of time"
warning, Frist will also push for extension of capital
gains and dividend tax cuts. And in May, he'll introduce
legislation for the full, permanent repeal of the estate
tax — at a cost of nearly $1 trillion from 2012
to 2021.
The estate-tax repeal — wrapped in the phony, necessary
illusion of "fairness" — could be named
"The Aristocracy Entrenchment Act of 2006" or
"In America, The Wealthy Don't Owe Anything to Anyone
Act" or "The Complete De-Funding of United States
Government Act of the 21st Century."
Still, Rep. Thomas's honest assessment bodes well for
the eventual return of sensible priorities to federal
lawmaking. Voters will be watching to see which members
of Congress, of both parties, stand in opposition to these
last-gasp efforts to enact bad legislation and waste time
on divisive election-year posturing.
When Bill Thomas says that "we" are running
out of time to deliver more tax cuts for big business
and the wealthy, he's not speaking for a majority of Americans.
Because we're not running out of time, Mr. Thomas. You
are.
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Seriously, don’t get Bill Shein started
about estate tax repeal.
(This column originally appeared in the Berkshire
Eagle newspaper on April 26, 2006. Join a discussion
about this column in Bill's blog.
And read Bill's previous column, "Business
as Usual When China Visits").
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