Bush and Biff, Part Two

As noted earlier, President Bush spent a little time chatting with Biff Limbaugh today, and I just read the transcript (the things I do for the Shakers!), and it’s pretty much the same old obnoxious shit. The only thing worth comment is part of Bush’s response about why the Republicans are going to win the midterms:

I know that we're right on the issues—and the issues, the two main issues, are low taxes and winning the war on terror and protecting the American people… I believe if our candidates continue to talk about the strong economy, based upon low taxes, and an administration in a Congress that was willing to give professionals the tools necessary to protect them, we'll win this election.

So, according to President Bush, the two main issues for Americans are tax cuts and protecting Americans from terrorism. What an idiot.

Americans do need more financial security, but giving people a tax rebate—especially one that, for the people most struggling economically, won’t make a damn bit of difference over the course of a year—isn’t the answer, not when you’ve got millions and millions of people without health insurance, millions of people suffering under crushing debt and filing bankruptcy, wages stagnating, education costs increasing, and a federal minimum wage that doesn’t provide enough income to rent a one-bedroom apartment anywhere in the country. The average tax cut for Americans making less than $50,000 is $435, or $36.25 a month. That’s not even a tank of gas anymore. The president is either totally disengaged from the realities of his tax cuts for most Americans, or completely intellectually dishonest—likely both—when he argues that his tax cuts can make a fundamental difference in most Americans’ lives.

Americans also need to be protected—yes, from terrorism, but considering that more Americans will lose their homes from predatory lending practices, more Americans will die of exposure, untreated disease, or hunger, and more Americans will have to choose between buying their medications and buying food this year alone than have ever been hurt or killed by terrorists, we really need to ratchet down the scare-mongering and get some bloody perspective. Of course national defense is a priority—it always will be—but, realistically, most Americans are not at risk for succumbing to terrorist violence, and those who are most vulnerable—the coasts, the big cities—even tend to vote against making terrorism a priority over issues like reinforcing the social safety net, funding stem cell research, protecting reproductive rights, and preserving civil rights.

Bush likes to assert that the GOP is right in-step with mainstream American values, but they’re so far off the mark, they can’t even see it anymore, if they ever did. In any case, I hope he keeps selling his “two main issues” to American voters, because nothing makes it more clear what little he’s giving them for which to vote.