Saturday, June 03, 2006
Maybe If They'd Actually Read a Book Once in a While. . . .
There's more at Daily Kos today jumping off from a list of specific programs that would be affected by a Republican tax cut in Nebraska, about which I wrote yesterday. Whenever Democrats talk about spending money, Repugs demand to know where it's going to come from and then screech about the answers. According to Susan G, here's how Democrats should handle the issue of how they'd pay for public services.
Recommended Reading: Last Sunday, the Washington Post carried a column which purports to be part of a commencement address the columnist delivered at a journalism school. It contains several lines worthy of Quote of the Day, too many to steal here, so go read it.
There's more at Daily Kos today jumping off from a list of specific programs that would be affected by a Republican tax cut in Nebraska, about which I wrote yesterday. Whenever Democrats talk about spending money, Repugs demand to know where it's going to come from and then screech about the answers. According to Susan G, here's how Democrats should handle the issue of how they'd pay for public services.
There's a simple way to respond for these gotcha games of details. When asked where money for proposed programs will come from, Democrats need to go ahead and say, We don't know. And the reason we don't know is because the cesspool of lies, secrecy, corruption and overspending is so rampant in Republican-run Washington that nobody has a clue about the real state of our fiscal affairs.The post also speaks to the depressing point made by a commenter to my original post, who observes that many red-state voters don't give a damn about parks, libraries, and swimming pools, but if you talk to them in terms of what tax cuts do to schools and jobs, they might listen.
What Democrats can say is that once they're elected, they plan to move in the direction of providing universal health coverage, shoring up our failing infrastructure, improving our schools, securing our ports and borders, and protecting the environment. The hope would be that doing away with corporate giveaways and tax loopholes, crony contract awards and wasteful weapons systems would help. Using diplomacy instead of military invasion every time a country looks at us funny would probably save a few cents as well.But seriously: They don't care about parks, libraries, and swimming pools?
Recommended Reading: Last Sunday, the Washington Post carried a column which purports to be part of a commencement address the columnist delivered at a journalism school. It contains several lines worthy of Quote of the Day, too many to steal here, so go read it.
