Bfgrn
Gold Member
- Apr 4, 2009
- 16,829
- 2,492
what is equally funny is the way republicans on here are running away from the FACT that the expiration of the ill advised Bush tax cuts were planned and written directly into the legislation by republicans. Why can't they just man up and accept responsibility for that?
You're saying they should have foreseen the economy circling the bowl the way it is now?
Paul O'Neill, Bush's first Treasury Secretary foresaw it. Even Bush himself questioned the second round of tax cuts, but the 'marionette in chief' couldn't convince the puppeteers...
Paul O'Neill, George Bush's first Treasury Secretary
The president had promised to cut taxes, and he did. Within six months of taking office, he pushed a trillion dollars worth of tax cuts through Congress. But O'Neill thought it should have been the end. After 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan, the budget deficit was growing. So at a meeting with the vice president after the mid-term elections in 2002, Suskind writes that O'Neill argued against a second round of tax cuts.
Cheney, at this moment, shows his hand, says Suskind. He says, You know, Paul, Reagan proved that deficits don't matter. We won the mid-term elections, this is our due. O'Neill is speechless.
It was not just about not wanting the tax cut. It was about how to use the nation's resources to improve the condition of our society, says ONeill. And I thought the weight of working on Social Security and fundamental tax reform was a lot more important than a tax reduction.
Did he think it was irresponsible? Well, it's for sure not what I would have done, says ONeill.
The former treasury secretary accuses Vice President Dick Cheney of not being an honest broker, but, with a handful of others, part of "a praetorian guard that encircled the president" to block out contrary views. "This is the way Dick likes it," says ONeill.
It's a huge meeting. You got Dick Cheney from the, you know, secure location on the video. The President is there, says Suskind, who was given a nearly verbatim transcript by someone who attended the meeting.
He says everyone expected Mr. Bush to rubber stamp the plan under discussion: a big new tax cut. But, according to Suskind, the president was perhaps having second thoughts about cutting taxes again, and was uncharacteristically engaged.
He asks, Haven't we already given money to rich people? This second tax cut's gonna do it again, says Suskind.
He says, Didnt we already, why are we doing it again? Now, his advisers, they say, Well Mr. President, the upper class, they're the entrepreneurs. That's the standard response. And the president kind of goes, OK. That's their response. And then, he comes back to it again. Well, shouldn't we be giving money to the middle, won't people be able to say, You did it once, and then you did it twice, and what was it good for?"
But according to the transcript, White House political advisor Karl Rove jumped in.
Karl Rove is saying to the president, a kind of mantra. Stick to principle. Stick to principle. He says it over and over again, says Suskind. Dont waver.
In the end, the president didn't. And nine days after that meeting in which O'Neill made it clear he could not publicly support another tax cut, the vice president called and asked him to resign.
With the deficit now climbing towards $400 billion, O'Neill maintains he was in the right.