In article ,
 Josh Hill  wrote:

> It was Reagan who proposed and pushed that military buildup, though.
> And the Democrats were willing to go along in a spirit of
> bipartisanship. The country was in crisis, and they basically gave him
> what he wanted. (Contrast the behavior of today's GOP.)
   And if you look at the actual figures (In the appropriate pages of 
the Statistical Abstract of the US) you will find that there was never a 
time when the year-to-year increase in defense spending was more than 
the year-to-year increase in revenue. Saying the military build-up 
caused the deficits is like saying that you get a $1.00 raise, your home 
owners insurance goes up 50 cents, yet the insurance company is 
responsible for you being overdrawn.
      Both sides have always done only what they feel is in there best 
interest. They went along not in the spirit of bipartisansip (as 
illustrated by the "DOA" rhetoric). They did it because it was popular 
at the time. 

> >      Also, GW's tax cuts were a specific %age across the board. It took 
> >a large number of people off the tax rolls entirely.
> 
> Yeah, but they went disproportionately to the rich, at a time when the
> income distribution was moving in their direction. Also -- this is
> frequently overlooked -- the tax cuts for the rich have had the effect
> of forcing the Federal government to reduce state aid, which has left
> the states to deal with all sorts of unfunded mandates. And what do
> the states do? Raise local taxes, which tend to be regressive. Hence
> the overall effect of the Republican tax policy has been to shift the
> tax burden downward.

 I wish people would put that old chestnut to rest. The figures from the 
IRS show that the top 1% (actually the top 5% which is as far as the 
charts went before dropping to 50%) had their %age of TOTAL taxes paid 
by the top taxpayer INCREASED after Bush. Also the %age of taxes paid 
versus the %age of total income earned INCREASED. They got most of the 
benefit because they have always paid mostt of the taxes. In fact a CBO 
study from the time said that for the top 5% get the same gross tax 
advantages as a class, their rate would have to approach 75%. They did 
not get a dispoportionally large share of the cuts if you look at 
proportion of taxes paid. In fact they actually carried More of the 
total burden after the cuts. 

> >      Nah. He put himself in that position in first place by being 
> >bipartisan. I think this is a message that greatly influenced GW during 
> >his term.. probably to his detriment. 
> 
> He made a keystone campaign promise that he couldn't keep. Not a minor
> one, but the main theme of his campaign.
    True, but he did not keep it in the spirit of bipartisanship, at the 
request of the Dems. He was bipartisan got whipped for it. THAT was the 
lesson that GW took away. Don't trust the Dems. 

>

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