Say what?

Bush's $674 billion tax plan, centered on a proposal to eliminate taxes on corporate dividends, and which was formally introduced on Thursday, generated the following comments:

Treasury Secretary John Snow - ... said the tax package would create "millions of new jobs"     "This is a tax policy that will stand up to scrutiny. This is economics that will stand up to scrutiny."

Georgia Sen. Zell Miller - "The president has come up with a bold, well-thought-out plan that will let virtually every American who pays taxes keep more of their hard-earned money"

Well, virtually every American pays taxes, so by Miller's logic, this tax bill will allow virtually every American to keep more of their hard-earned money.

Of course, that's completely false. A significant number of Americans will be paying more for stuff as benefits programs are scaled back, and they won't get a dime as a result of Bush's proposed legislation. So, it is not true that "virtually all Americans" will be keeping more of their money.

As far as John Snow is concerned, we never thought we'd say it, but, please, bring back Paul O'Neill.

posted by Quiddity at 2/28/2003 01:38:00 AM