Bush's fuzzy math

The new Bush economic stimulus plan is full of tax breaks for the wealthy, deep deficits for the future, and ignorance of the real needy of this country.

Bush said that, along with his tax cut he will be "fulfilling key obligations." Those obligations must be his obligation to the wealthy and the big businesses of the U.S. He has clearly ignored the real, working class people of this country. According to the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, the top 1% of earners would get 28% of the benefit from the plan and the top 10% would get 59% of the tax breaks. And the people who really need the help during this time of economic strife would get (drum roll please) 8% of the total benefit.

Another line that Bush used in his speech was "We will not rest until every business has a chance to grow, and every person who wants to find work can find a job." Well then he must mean just white people because his plan has nothing in store for African Americans whose unemployment rate is double that of the nation. One of the key parts of Bush's plan is to get rid of the tax on dividends (the funds companies pay out to stockholders). According to the Democratic National Committee this would cost $300 million over a 10-year period and would go to large stockholders (aka. the wealthy) and there is nothing in the plan that says "oh and tax relief and help for the thousands living in poverty in this country."

Democrats, even the ones who voted for the first Bush tax cut, are strongly opposing this plan. There are also some Republicans who oppose the tax cut including John McCain of Arizona and Lincoln D. Chafee of Rhode Island.

According to the Washington Post, Bush said, "Our country has made great progress in restoring investor confidence and putting the recession behind us." He went on to say "we cannot be satisfied, however, until every corporate wrongdoer is held to account, and every part of our economy is strong." I think Bush is mistaken because in my opinion if every corporate wrongdoer were prosecuted then he and half his cabinet would be in jail.

The President's in-your-face approach has been fairly effective in this country thus far, as proven by Bush's high approval ratings. People need to wake up and smell the crisp green bills that will soon be entering Bush and Cheney's wallets. According to the Democratic National Committee, Bush would save $16, 511 from the tax scheme and Cheney would save $104,823. Fuzzy math? I think so.