The Chris Moeller Archives

Another body blow from Bush

Underreported by the news media this month was the unveiling of President Bush's proposed 2008 Budget. It's an extraordinary document that makes many of Bush's tax cuts permanent and advocates the total repeal of the Estate Tax, a tax on inheritance which, based on the President's changes, would only effect those in the top two-tenths of the top one percent of the richest Americans.

The number-crunchers in Senator Bernie Sanders' office have broken it all down. If the Estate Tax were repealed, the heirs of Sam Walton would receive a combined estimated tax break of $32.7 billion over ten years. Meanwhile, the Bush budget slashes $28 billion in Medicaid over the same period. Heirs to the Mars Candy fortune would pick up roughly $11.7 billion in tax breaks, while Bush slashes the budget of the VA by $3.4 billion over a decade. The family of former Exxon Mobil CEO Lee Raymond gets a $164 million pass from Uncle Sam, while we pay more at the pump and 480,000 low-income mothers, seniors, and children lose the Commodity Supplemental Food Program and one free bag of groceries per month-- a savings to the U.S. treasury of $108 million.

And who pays the news media's advertising dollars? I wonder why we don't hear about this.

posted by CM @ 8:55 PM