LETTER FROM THE EDITOR 10/01/08
YOUR TAXES WILL GO UP
Both presidential candidates are promising various kinds of tax cuts, each one claiming that their version is the best. Both candidates are lying. You know what you find when you walk across a cattle pasture? That's the reality of promises of tax breaks or cuts or even tax stability.
Those who truly believe that the next administration will cut taxes---or will even be able to cut taxes---is deluded. Seriously deluded.
Here's the news no one is telling the U. S. taxpayer: it doesn't matter whether a $700 billion bailout is given to the corporate fat cats in Wall Street without them having to even give up their private jets. Yes, Americans have finally rebelled against the socialism and welfare that gets a good name only when it goes to corporations (I called each of my congressmen to complain about giving away a handout with no oversight, did you?), but the "bailout" is not really that big a whack on America's coffers. Our country is already shelling out $12 billion a month (again, Billion) for the war in Iraq. Plus an additional $4 Billion each month for the war in Afghanistan.
That, of course, does not count the $500,000 that is paid to the family of every U. S. soldier killed in these two wars (yes, we are fighting two wars at once, plus some uncounted costly operations in Pakistan, but of course you already knew that.), a total of more than two Billion already, and climbing. And it doesn't count the ongoing medical costs of caring for the more than 40,000 wounded, many of whom will need millions in ongoing care for the rest of their lives, also a number still climbing. Nor does it include the long term pensions paid to the spouses and children left behind; or the large sums paid out by the U. S. to the families of the many Iraqis whose loved ones were mistakenly killed by U. S. or coalition troops---over a million already and counting.
All those figures are, of course, greatly escalated by the higher price of oil, which is making every service offered to Americans by their government more expensive, including something so basic as flying a wounded soldier to Germany for care. So billions turn into Trillions. Yes, Trillions.
The U. S. has managed doing all this on credit, because we basically don't have the money for all this spending. Credit, of course, means borrowing. We've borrowed the money from China. China is our competition, not our friend. They will certainly not let us slide on our multi-trillion dollar debt to them.
And, to top it all off, the rest of the world sees America spending all this money it doesn't have, and has wisely backed off supporting the dollar. So the value of the dollar has fallen down against other currencies. American dollars aren't worth as much as they used to be. Americans are living overextended on credit, but so is our government. Taxpayers might be able to rescue the corporations who banked on homeowner's promises to pay; that paltry $700 billion is doable. But who is going to rescue the U. S. government? Even we taxpayers, with what we pay now, can't come up with the trillions of dollars for a rescue. There's no escape: we are all going to have to pay more in taxes; a whole lot more. There's no escape. All these facts are obvious, and you don't have to be an economist to understand them.
The candidates who promise tax cuts aren't telling us the truth. Then again, why should they have to tell us? Isn't it something every patriotic American should already know?
Wina Sturgeon, Editor