"Tax relief for all Americans"

I'm thrilled the president extended the tax cuts today. The sign at his signing ceremony was so inspirational -- "tax relief for all Americans." All Americans!

(ahem)

Let's say I was still in the working world and made, say, $50,000 per year. Bush's tax cuts would save me about $112 per year, or about 0.2% of my income.

Let's say I'm well-paid businessman who makes just over $1 million per year. Bush's tax cuts would save me $42,776, or about 4.2% of my income.

It's a good thing we decreased the top-bracket tax rate. I mean, I want to make more money, but I realize that working hard to earn more money is pointless because the government will increase my taxes! And if I make more money, my taxes will increase! Life is so unfair, especially when you're making over million dollars a year. Rather than trying to advance my career and earn more money, I'm going to just stay in this job, just so the government won't increase my taxes.

Well, if everyone is getting tax cuts, it's a good thing that we have a federal budget surplus. Oh, wait, there isn't a budget surplus! We're spending $350 billion more each year than we bring in. Don't worry, though, we're working hard to make sure that government funds aren't wasted on silly programs such as student loans and health insurance for poor mothers. Congress cut $12.6 billion from these silly programs and raised the cap on student loan rates by about 1.5%. But that doesn't affect real people does it? Not really. I'll only have to pay an extra $25,000-$40,000 in loan interest. Too bad I'm not a millionaire...that $42,776 in tax relief would really help with these student loan payments. And poor mothers? Don't worry, it's not like they can't get health care if the government slashes Medicaid funding. Oh, wait, they can't. Well, it's not like they will actually die if they don't have health insurance. Oh, wait, research shows that's not true either. If we have to sacrifice students and poor mothers just to give tax cuts to the wealthy, then that's what we have to do.

Well, even though there is a budget deficit, it's a good thing we're not that much in debt. Ahhhh, that's right - the president has asked Congress to increase the debt limit four times! Now we only owe $8.3 trillion, and we can borrow up to $9 trillion. I'm glad the president took the approach of starting a war, cutting taxes repeatedly, and just borrowing money to cover the different. I mean, it's not like the current generation of American leaders can really afford to pay down this debt...you know, we're in a war! And multi-millionaires keep having to pay taxes to the government! Every time millionairs have to pay taxes, the terrorist win! Only those people who hate America will be unwilling to make a personal sacrifice during the War On Terror. (Millionaires automatically exempted from this requirement.)

It's a good thing that my generation will be able to afford to pay off the billions of dollars in interest on the national debt. Just keep passing responsibility to the next generation...