The Republican Alternative Budget

by Tex Norman⁽⁷⁸⁾

The Obama budget is 142 pages long and filled with actually dollar amounts. Boehner responded to the challenge that the Republican Party submits an alternative to the Obama plan with an 18 page GOP budget that is almost totally without any dollar amounts.

This contradicts the definition of a budget we got from our last President:

“It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it.”~ George W. Bush

The one area where there are numbers has to do with something most of us would welcome: a simplified taxation policy. However, when you look closely you find that the only specific part of the Republican GOP budget proposes that taxes for those in the top tax bracket have their taxes cut from 35 percent to 25 percent. People making more than a $100,000 would pay the top rate; those under would pay 10 percent.

So the blueprint for the Republican Party’s budget is to give a huge tax rate cut to the richest people in this country.

How silly, for House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) to wave an official looking report cover, look into the camera with those steel blue eyes and say, " Two nights ago, the president said, 'We haven't seen a budget yet out of Republicans.' Well, it's just not true, because here it is, Mr. President,” and then what he is waving is 19 pages of warmed up Bush Budget left-overs. The only specific suggestion is to cut the taxes of the super rich AGAIN!

Some of the reporters present felt miffed because they thought they were coming to see the GOP alternative budget and what they got is a campaign speech in a blue cover. One reporter asked a very interesting question. That reporter started by pointing out that the Republicans had been criticizing the Democrats for throwing together their stimulus package too quickly and then asking lawmakers to vote on something no one had time to read.

Are you saying that your budget will be unveiled on the same day that the House is expected to vote on it? "

" No, I expect it'll be out next week, " said Boehner.

This was an odd reply from the House Minority Leader since the House is suppose to vote on the budget next week, the same week the details of the GOP alternative budget is to be released. Apparently Boehner realized that there would not be much time to consider the GOP budget so he added: " But understand that a budget really is a one-page document. It's just a bunch of numbers. "

If you are rich and feel no responsibility to support schools, law enforcement, safe roads and bridges, protection for abused children and elderly people, and are concerned only with yourself, then maybe the GOP proposed massive tax cut looks pretty good to you.

To me it looks like the Republican’s have no care for the poor or middle class, and support welfare to the rich. Maybe the Republican budget was not just a blueprint. Maybe the proposal of the GOP is to take all the services and responsibilities of the Government and proposing ZERO dollars to support those categories.

Article submitted Friday, March 27, 2009 & read 1656 times.

Tex Norman is a social worker, currently working at the Oklahoma DHS Abuse and Neglect hotline. He interviews people reporting abuse and/or neglect of children and vulnerable adults and writes a narrative. The narratives (and demographics) are used to initiate investigations of the allegations. He says it is like writing 8 to 10 stories a day. In August 2012, he will have been married to Kathie for 40 years. He has a son Ryan who earned a PhD from Princeton and he is now a scientist doing research in molecular biology. Tex spends his free time working as an artist and writer. He has one art site, and a blog that might be of interest: http://tex-norman.artistwebsites.com/ and http://collagepoetrybytex.blogspot.com/

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