Posted by PWalker
Hopefully your Thanksgiving was better than this. But maybe you could relate to Maureen Dowd’s description:
It’s lovely – if you enjoy hearing about how brilliant Ann Coulter is, how misguided The New York Times’s editorial page is, and how valiant the president is as he tries to stop America’s slide into paganism.
This year, my brothers were on the warpath about news reports that Maryland public schools did not teach about Thanksgiving from a religious perspective. “Who do they think the Pilgrims thanked?” demanded Martin. “God.”
I, for one, wish I’d read Joe Conason’s article one day sooner. Maybe we can use these tips at Christmas:
Rather than start screaming about the bloody debacle in Iraq, the nasty campaign against gays, or the pillaging of the environment, just smile and nod until your favorite ‘winger pauses for breath (or a bite of pie). Then say, “I hope you’re right, of course, for everybody’s sake. But have you heard about the President’s economic plans?”
As soon as you have everybody’s attention, politely explain what Bush and his administration plan to do to the gullible middle-class voters who re-elected him. Remind them how the President promised to make taxes “fairer” and “simpler,” to make health care more widely available and to cut the deficit in half.
Nod your head and say yes, you agree, the forthcoming White House tax plan is pure simplicity. It will transfer the tax burden from the wealthy to the workers, from families with high earnings to those in the middle. That means creating new shelters for the richest taxpayers, who will be rewarded with various schemes for tax-free savings and medical accounts. Pretty fair, eh?
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And while your listeners are still chewing over that piece of gristle, gently inform them about the President’s other plan to compensate for the next round of regressive tax cuts. He wants to take away their employer-sponsored health insurance.
Although he neglected to discuss any such proposal during the presidential campaign, when he emphasized his commitment to expand health coverage, Bush reportedly plans to eliminate corporate deductions for health insurance coverage. With company health plans already under tremendous pressure from increasing costs, the elimination of deductibility will make insurance unaffordable for most companies (and will certainly give all employers an excuse for eliminating those benefits). That will leave wage and salary earners to fend for themselves against the big private insurers. Take a generous sip of chardonnay and say, “What a deal!”