![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icarusDear Republicans,
I told you so.
We went to war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and at the same time cut taxes. The tax cuts were for investors, corporations, and the very, very wealthy. (I mean seriously, a tax break for a second vacation home?)
Even the most militant hawks on Capitol Hill squawked at the timing of those tax cuts. Never in our history have we ever cut taxes at the same time we've gone to war, they said. "How will we pay for the war?" they asked.
The answer: the Iraq war would pay for itself! (No one mentioned the costs of the Afghanistan war.)
Yes, indeedy. The Iraq operation was going to be short, cheered by the people of Iraq, we'd install the new temporary government of Iraq ... and then they would pay us in oil revenues. (We ignored the military, who told us "you are planning two wars, in countries that are big. This will not be short.") The flow of oil revenues to the US didn't happen, as you may have noticed, not by a long shot. The first thing the the Iraq insurgents did was disrupt the oil infrastructure so we couldn't get any.
Oh, dear. So where did we get the money for the ensuing ten years of war?
China! At the time, former President Clinton pointed out that "It's a bad idea to borrow from countries who aren't our allies."
Sure enough, when our economy hit the skids due to corrupt investment banks finding ways to around the laws, ethics, and SEC rules (did I mention the deregulation that came around the same time as the tax cuts?), we asked China to cut us some slack on our loans.
Surprise, surprise, China said no.
Now we're deep in a decade's worth of war debt, with wealthy corporations hoarding their tax breaks to the tune of "We're in the money! We're in the money!" Now the Republicans are squawking about this big ol' deficit.
I told you so.
No Love,
Me
I told you so.
We went to war in Iraq, Afghanistan, and at the same time cut taxes. The tax cuts were for investors, corporations, and the very, very wealthy. (I mean seriously, a tax break for a second vacation home?)
Even the most militant hawks on Capitol Hill squawked at the timing of those tax cuts. Never in our history have we ever cut taxes at the same time we've gone to war, they said. "How will we pay for the war?" they asked.
The answer: the Iraq war would pay for itself! (No one mentioned the costs of the Afghanistan war.)
Yes, indeedy. The Iraq operation was going to be short, cheered by the people of Iraq, we'd install the new temporary government of Iraq ... and then they would pay us in oil revenues. (We ignored the military, who told us "you are planning two wars, in countries that are big. This will not be short.") The flow of oil revenues to the US didn't happen, as you may have noticed, not by a long shot. The first thing the the Iraq insurgents did was disrupt the oil infrastructure so we couldn't get any.
Oh, dear. So where did we get the money for the ensuing ten years of war?
China! At the time, former President Clinton pointed out that "It's a bad idea to borrow from countries who aren't our allies."
Sure enough, when our economy hit the skids due to corrupt investment banks finding ways to around the laws, ethics, and SEC rules (did I mention the deregulation that came around the same time as the tax cuts?), we asked China to cut us some slack on our loans.
Surprise, surprise, China said no.
Now we're deep in a decade's worth of war debt, with wealthy corporations hoarding their tax breaks to the tune of "We're in the money! We're in the money!" Now the Republicans are squawking about this big ol' deficit.
I told you so.
No Love,
Me
no subject
Date: 2011-05-10 10:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-19 06:48 am (UTC)