Bush plan aids wealthy, again

    Here we are again at the beginning of a new year. And just like clockwork we have yet another "economic stimulus package" from President Bush.

    Again, sticking to the conservative mindset of benefiting the wealthiest 1 percent of America, Bush proposes to eliminate the tax on dividends.

    When defending the tax cut, he claims that it does not make sense to tax the same money twice. However, many economists say the money he is referring to originates in two difference sources and his argument is without merit.

    Republicans for a long time have attempted to end the tax on these dividends. We could ask ourselves why, but the answer is quite obvious.

    The elimination of this tax puts a large amount of money in the pockets of wealthy investors. Those happen to also be the largest contributors to the Republican cause.

    Is this a coincidence?

    Obviously the answer is no. The two are related. Bush's $670 billion dollar tax cut, similar to his last tax cut, is supposed to create an enormous number of jobs.

    This tax cut will wipe out a huge portion of government income. Reports say the first five years after the cut, if it passes, the federal government will lose an estimated $364 billion in revenue.

    Analyzing the affects a tax cut will have on our current economy is simple. The government is going to have less income while spending more money.

    With a U.S led attack on Iraq looking more and more evident as the days pass, one is left with no doubt the debt will continue to grow.

    However, we must remind our leaders of what little effect the last cut has had. Along with the first tax cut of the Bush tenure, the bailout money given to the airline industry was a huge mistake, we still have airline employees losing jobs.

    The money given to those airlines was used for purposes other than intended. That fact went unpublicized by the media.

    The president's Council of Economic Advisers released claims the plan will help the economy grow .4 percentage points faster this year and 1.1 percentage points faster in 2004.

    Meanwhile, other economists add that state tax increases and spending cuts will trim growth even lower.

    So all the information given by Bush and his advisers along with individual economists shows how little this enormous tax cut will benefit the economy.

    The plan by the conservatives in charge this year is to make themselves and their supporters wealthier. We must read between the lines and compromise in a beneficial fashion.

    A tax cut is not necessarily the answer to all the economy's problems. Neither is going to war. However, these ideas seem to be all the Conservative leaders can develop.

    "I look at the Bush plan as a floor, not a ceiling," House Majority Leader Tom Delay from Texas said.

    His floor reference is correct. This tax plan does belong on the floor, the floor of a barn.