Schumer and Reid playing the economic games of the Religious Right.

[madfloridian]

I am so disgusted reading the latest about the Senate's new "bi-partisan" version of the bail-out bill. More tax cuts to get the Republicans on board.

Aren't we getting into some dangerous territory here? This is the game Florida starting playing when Jeb Bush took office. Cut every tax you can find...then start cutting services and letting the infrastructure get so bad the people will easily accept it when you turn the roads and bridges over to private companies in foreign countries.

The new push by Schumer and Reid:

Senate to vote on rescue plan with added tax cut

WASHINGTON — In a bold bid to revive President Bush's multibillion-dollar financial rescue plan, Senate leaders scheduled a vote for Wednesday night on a version of the bill that adds substantial tax cuts meant to appeal to Republicans when it reaches the House.

The goal is to net at least 12 more House votes than the rescue proposal received Monday, when lawmakers rocked the political and financial worlds by rejecting it.

The gambit is certain to anger some conservative House Democrats, who object to tax cuts that are not offset with spending cuts. But Senate strategists assume it will gain more House votes than it will lose.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called it "a brilliant move" that will "help pick up votes on both sides of the aisle."

The new approach, announced Tuesday night by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., would tack large and contentious tax measures to the bailout bill. Senate leaders figure the House will have to approve it because the tax cuts are too appealing to Republicans and the financial rescue plan will still seem essential to most Democrats.

If you have never been to Theocracy Watch, you should. It is a treasure trove of documentation of the goals of the religious right through the last couple of decades when they took over the Republican Party. The effort which has come to fruition in the choice of Sarah Palin.

Here is long page on Religious Right Economics

Just a sample:

Starve the Federal Government through Tax Cuts

Tax cuts are one of Bush's signature issues. Most taxes are unbiblical according to Beliles and McDowell in their chapter on Christian Economics. Income tax is "idolatry," property tax is "theft" and inheritance taxes are simply not allowed in the Bible. The book mentions two kind of taxes that are mentioned in the Bible: a poll tax (called a flat tax today) - which is uniform, and tithing (voluntarily paying 10% of your income to your Church.) (214-215)

As reported in the Washington Post, August 4, 2004, J. Dennis Hastert, (R-Ill.) the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives published a book that suggests abolishing the Internal Revenue Service and replacing the current tax system with either a flat tax, a national sales tax or a value-added tax. Are Hastert's taxes meeting the criteria of Biblical taxes? Curiously, they are all taxes that would favor the wealthy and burden the poor.

The New York Times,, August 13, 2004, reported on a study by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that concludes the President's tax cuts "heavily favor the wealthy." The Washington Post reported on that same study that the tax cuts "hurt the middle class."

The Texas Republican Party platform spells out which taxes to cut. It calls for abolishing the IRS and eliminating "income tax, inheritance tax, gift tax, capital gains, corporate income tax, payroll tax and property tax." The platform doesn't mention a sales tax which is also not cited in America's Providential History as "Unbiblical.".

I have said very little on the economic bail out. I do not understand a lot of it, and economics boggles my mind. But this quite frankly hits me wrong, for Schumer and Reid to cave in to one of the worst ideologues in the GOP...Mitch McConnell.

This is not bi-partisan, this is sickening.

I was already upset Saturday when I read that Nancy Pelosi said helping bankrupt homeowners avoid foreclosure won't be a part of the emergency legislation

Pelosi told fellow Democrats during a closed-door meeting that the idea of letting judges rewrite mortgages to help bankrupt homeowners avoid foreclosure won't be a part of the emergency legislation. That provision, pushed by several Democrats, would be a deal-breaker for Republicans whose votes are needed to pass the measure, she said, according to lawmakers at the meeting.

I am quite sure I will be informed very shortly that I have no idea what I am talking about, that we have to work with folks like McConnell to save our country.

I am beginning to wonder about that.

[spag68]

1. taxes

It really will not matter what is done with taxes, wealthy people and large corporations don't pay taxes, all of the workers do.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Yes, the bill is starting to look like the bailout of 1931

it was also trickle down all the way... and when all is said and done, this will be

Thank the fanatics for not voting for the plan yesterday

And all the idiots who celebrated will be right, for the same reason people were afraid it was not going to work in '31

[dkofos]

9. It didn't work in 31 and neither will this.

[avaistheone1]

14. Hartmann was saying exactly that on his show today.

[Dr.Phool]

3. With Democrats like these, who need Republicans?

I get more fed up with this congress by the day.

[madfloridian]

4. Two more Dominionist themes....partly agreed on by both parties.

From the Theocracy Watch link in the OP

"Shift Education and Welfare to Churches
Beliles and McDowell tell us: "Scripture makes it clear that God is the provider, not the state, and that needy individuals are to be cared for by private acts of charity." (187) In the Texas GOP Platform a starved federal government is accompanied by a scaled-down federal government with the abolition of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department of Education. Welfare of the needy is shifting to churches through Bush's Faith Based Initiatives, another of his signature issues. The Bush administration's strong support of school vouchers is paving the way for government funding of religious schools.

February 10, 2005: The Institute for America's Future released a report detailing the cuts and funding freezes to education . The report shows that Bush fails to adequately fund essential early education and after-school programs, eliminates the Even Start literacy program, freezes work-study funding for college and kills funding for 48 education programs. Outraged, IAF President Robert Borosage says, "If the president has his way, the poorest children will bear the largest burden - suffering cuts to education, nutrition and health care, and the bill of increased debt which they will be forced to pay throughout their lives." SEE THE REPORT

End Government Regulation
The interest of big corporations intersect with a belief of dominionists that regulatory functions of government should be abolished. Those regulations that protect the environment, worker safety, public health and consumers are diminished as the regulatory mechanisms established over the past several decades become unraveled. Agencies such as the EPA and the Bureau of Alcohol and Firearms are abolished in the Texas GOP Platform. "A strong and vibrant private sector unencumbered by excessive government regulation," the Platform declares.

The Washington Post has featured three articles analyzing how the Bush administration is systematically dismantling the regulatory functions of government in ways that are not obvious and receive little public debate. The first article is called Bush Forces a Shift In Regulatory Thrust, August 15, 2004. The second article, 'Data Qualitiy' Law is Nemesis of Regulation, August 16, and, Appalachia Is Paying Price for White House Rule Change, August 17.

The Post approached the subject of deregulation once again, January 25, 2005 with: Report Sheds Light on Changing Role of Regulation."

There are varying degrees of agreement within both parties.

[Adsos Letter]

5. it is the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives that is the Trojan Horse in our system....

I have believed that for some years now.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. oops..wrong place

[iconicgnom]

6. These Dems aren't just "caving". They're orchestrating the swindle.

And they've been orchestrating the swindle for too long.

Where is the real Democratic party leadership?
Dennis Kucinch makes sense to me. He seems more "presidential" than any of the candidates for POTUS. He wouldn't abide by this kind of utter crap. Yet he was one of the very first to be rejected by the vast majority of Dems in the recent primary.

I wonder why it is that so many of the Dem "winning politicians", those given the positions with power of decision in the Dem party, also show over and over that they are total patsies with respect to selling out on basic progressive/egalitarian issues? Obscene as it is, it certainly seems that these pols are given positions of power in the Dem party as a *reward* for "caving" on progressive issues. As a *reward* for helping orchestrate the ongoing swindle.

[BrklynLiberal]

8. This is a huge scam! This bill is no better than the one that failed. I share your outrage.

The only person I trust on this is Dennis Kucinich. I believe he may be the only person in Congress who has actually read the entire bill.

[dkofos]

10. Indeed

[rosesaylavee]

11. No mention of Dodd being involved at this point.

That concerns me. Perhaps he said no, he wasn't going to play anymore. He was the only one I trusted in all this and not one mention of him in that article.

[unblock]

12. so, having nothing to do with the bailout -- amt relief is, what, anti-semitic???

i'm not following the logic. are the tax cuts themselves "games of the religious right"?

or is agreeing to tossing in a tax break or two to get 12 more votes is a "games of the religious right"?

is one single tax cut a "game of the religious right", or do you need several of them before it becomes "games of the religious right"?


is it certaint kinds of tax breaks that are "games of the religious right"? or must we oppose all tax breaks ever, lest we be accused of "games of the religious right"?

[madfloridian]

15. There's no logic.

It is my opinion that continuing tax cuts right now is just too much. I was not saying anything about anti-semitic.

I clearly laid out the goals of the religious right, and more tax cuts right now are not the answer.

Now it seems that all faiths are playing tax cut games to get the Republicans on board. Their goal was to be able to drown the government in a bathtub...they have nearly achieved that goal.

[bvar22]

13. Just say NO to a Faith Based BailOut !

Thanks, MF.
K&R

"Give us the money NOW, and we'll FIX IT later."
As Sarah would say, "Thanks, but No Thanks".

[mzmolly]

16. We can make changes soon.

We won't need a veto proof majority much longer. (Hopefully)

[depakid]

17. Wouldn't have been included if House dems had gotten on board

Just sayin'

[FreepFryer]

18. Schumer is a SIGNATORY to the PNAC. He's not a Dem, he's a liar. We'll upend him next election

http://www.king-george.biz/wst_page5.html

[galileoreloaded]

19. Wooden childrens arrows are protected. No worry..................n/t

[hay rick]

20. tax cuts

The primary tax cut is the AMT patch. This will pass as a separate bill if it is not included in this legislation. The only suspense with the AMT is when will there be a permanent fix, rather than the yearly patches we have been seeing. Adding this as a "bailout cost" is disingenuous.

[madfloridian]

21. They sure have taken their time on that AMT patch.

It will hurt a lot of people if it doesn't pass.

[BayjanDem]

22. Income tax is "idolatry," property tax is "theft" WRONG.

Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar and to God that which is Gods. Taxes are part of the laws of this country. I'm a Christian but I live separation of church and state.