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Jewish World Review Jan. 10, 2013/ 28 Teves, 5773 Hold the applause By Paul Greenberg
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | It was H.L. Mencken who said nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. He didn't think to add that no politician ever lost an election by underestimating the gullibility of the American public. The latest illustration of that point was the last-minute deal our congressional leaders worked out to avoid pushing the country over -- forgive me, the cliche is unavoidable -- the Fiscal Cliff. Then the politicos stood back, admired their shoddy work, and hailed it as some kind of great victory for fairness, responsibility and
Unless, that is, the millionaires and billionaires happen to be among those whose tax breaks were carefully protected in the small print of this midnight raid on the U.S. Treasury and the credulity of the American public. Millionaires and billionaires like those who own Or the billionaires and millionaires who are The handouts in this bill go on and on. The full list can be found in a report out of the Now that he's no longer running for president, There is always a touch of irony to the names politicians assign their sneakiest proposals, but the official title of this deal rushed through So much for making all those billionaires and millionaires pay their fair share. The tax lawyers, CPAs and financial planners must be lining up tax shelters even now. And there'll be plenty of safe havens to choose from thanks to the American Taxpayer Relief Act (and Tax Dodge) of 2012. Specifically, of the very last minutes of 2012. This is our president's idea of fair taxation, even though this last-minute deal raised payroll taxes on every working stiff in the country, as anybody who draws a paycheck has now discovered, or will soon enough. If they'll just check their pay stub. If there's anything less fair than this deal that favors one special interest after another, it's the Hon. So let's hold the applause, shall we? Especially with the national debt still looming over the economy like a growing threat, and still another debate coming up soon on raising the debt limit. Well, sure, why economize when you can borrow more? Or just print more, the way the Federal Reserve has been doing? Just be sure to call it Quantitative Easing. Mr. Mencken may have thought of himself as a cynic about politics in his time, but he hadn't seen anything yet. It's not exactly news that to the victors of an election belong the spoils, but when the spoilsmen in Between the self-celebration of the politicians who engineered this grab and called it statesmanship, and the gullibility of the pundits who repeated that line, the extent of this gigantic giveaway may go unnoticed. It shouldn't.
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