Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

Conrad, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee:  "You talk about completely detached from reality, that's this place."

Stark, one of two House Democrats on the tax conference committee: "The predictable result is a Republican agreement that benefits millionaires at the expense of working families."

Baucus, D-Mont:"If this is a deal, it's a bad one. It leaves millions of people, from teachers to college students to entrepreneurs and innovators, hanging on and hoping for the best in a second tax bill."  

The President is getting desperate to get his poll numbers up, and this is likely to be the only "accomplishment" he can hope for (unless you count destroying our credibility throughout the world, mis-managing a preemptive war on Iraq, and acting as our "Decider."  

Bush still claims that his tax cuts have created a strong economy.  Well, I suppose if a strong economy means he and his cronies have gotten richer, while bankrupting the nation, then perhaps there's a basis for this claim.  

For other, more rational arguments, read some of bondad's posts.

Just to re-iterate, compare the effect of permanent tax cuts to the predicted shortfall of Social Security funds. A handy visual works best. Here's a graph from the recent report from the Social Security Board of Trustees, link courtesy of the Center on Budget Policy and Priorities: (Sorry the graph is small, but I wanted to save bandwidth. Go to the original site for a larger view.)

According to Scotty yesterday, "The tax relief that the president advocated and passed is working to do exactly what it was intended to do: get the economy growing and help create jobs. To keep our economy strong and growing, the tax relief needs to be made permanent."  

Ah, yes, some parting words to be proud of.

But Scotty didn't say other things yesterday (you expected something else?), including the specifics of the agreement.

No doubt another PR campaign (beginning today) will attempt to gain speed over the next few days.  

In case you've forgotten some of the background on the original measure, below is a re-cap, along with some specs on the new plan:

In 2003, Congress passed a measure to lower the tax rate on most dividends to 15 percent from as high as 38.6 percent and to lower rates on most capital gains from 20 percent to 15 percent. That measure is set to expire in 2008 but would be extended through 2010 under yesterday's agreement, at a cost to the Treasury of $21 billion over five years and an additional $30 billion between 2011 and 2015, according to aides familiar with the deal. The alternative-minimum-tax provision would restrict the reach of the tax for one year, at a cost of $34 billion.

The agreement would also allow small businesses to write off investments worth up to $100,000 for an additional two years, 2008 and 2009, while letting banking, securities and insurance companies defer income tax payments on overseas trading profits for one additional year.
The agreement is a clear victory for Bush, whose success in Congress has waned sharply since his reelection in 2004.

Today, Bush made his case to a friendly group of supporters, members of the American Council of Engineering Companies, a Washington-based group promoting business interests of the engineering industry to Congress, federal agencies and other international organizations.

There's still a ray of hope, though, so get on the phone, so weigh in with your thoughts on this latest scam and call, email, or write your Senators.