Stop These Obscene Tax Cuts

The last U.S. Census Bureau report revealed that in 2004, 1.1 million more people fell into poverty, which now brings the total to 37 million in the U.S.  It also showed 17.8 percent of all America’s children were poor last year, a total of 13 million. 

Also, there are now more people without health insurance – a rise from 45 million uninsured in 2003 to 45.8 million in 2004. 

Poverty has risen for four years straight while our national government has passed tax cuts for the wealthy.  And the tragedies of Hurricane Katrina certainly showed our government’s lack of concern for the poor.

One of the many cuts in the federal budget, which comes at the expense of the poor, removed the low-income child tax credit from the bill, excluding almost 12 million from the benefit.  And in addition, if congress extends the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts to the wealthy our national deficit will increase to $4 trillion over the next 10 years. 

When the U.S. Administration acknowledges our astronomical deficit, what cuts do they speak of first?  We already know the obscene costs of the Iraq quagmire, first of all in lives and then money, but where do our leader look first to cut – Social Security, Medicaid, food stamps and other social programs. 

Democrats are accused of bashing Republican governance without offering productive ideas of their own.  To reduce the national deficit, a problem decried by both Democrats and hard right Republicans, let us begin by stopping these obscene tax cuts for the highest 5% incomes.  This will do to corporate welfare what our government is doing to social programs for lower income and poor Americans. 

Buz Cormany
Medina, OH