Dean Statement on Frist Push for Estate Tax

[Fleshdancer]

That last paragraph is priceless.

http://press.arrivenet.com/pol/article.php/688791.html

"Countless thousands of our fellow Americans throughout the Gulf Coast region continue to suffer in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. While some have begun the painful task of rebuilding their lives and coping with the unfathomable loss, so many still await help. And the cost of this disaster in human and material terms remains unknown.

"It's simply irresponsible for Senator Frist and Ken Mehlman to even think about spending our tax dollars on breaks for millionaires at a time when our top priority must be to ensure we have the resources needed to address the long and short term costs associated with rescue, recovery, and rebuilding in the wake of hurricane Katrina. Not to mention the vital lesson we learned this week about the deadly cost of diverting funds at the expense of the safety of the American people. These costs also come at a time when our nation faces a massive deficit, and mounting costs in the ongoing war in Iraq.

"There is also a question of values, priorities and choices. Tens of thousands of our fellow Americans have literally lost everything; we have a responsibility to put their needs first. Senator Frist should join Democrats in Congress who understand that our priority as a nation must be to focus our energy and resources on determining how we help the victims begin to rebuild their lives and addressing the long term issues we face as a nation in the aftermath of Katrina.

"Perhaps seeing the images on television was not enough this time for Senator Frist and having now had the chance to actually look some of the victims in the eye, he'll be able to better diagnose the situation, get his priorities straight and recognize that the victims of this crisis, and providing the resources to keep our people safe in the future, must be our highest priorities."

[Dudley_DUright]

1. How much you want to bet that the Kitty Killer

pushes through the estate tax repeal anyway? They have absolutely no shame nor a shred of human decency.

[bryant69]

2. It's insanely arrogant need to do.

I don't understand what their thinking is; if there was ever an argument for making sure America has enough revenues to do what they need to, it's New Orleans.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[mod mom]

3. Dean should do a commerical for the DNC point blank saying this!

[bbgrunt]

4. I'm encouraged to see dean speaking up,

but where are the rest of the dems?

[MelissaB]

5. Recommending for a leader!

[yurbud]

6. kick and rec--vote this up so it stays up. send to spineless in Congress

too.

[Fleshdancer]

10. and hope they don't criticize Dean for saying something

I don't know what angers me more, the lack of spine in most Democratic Congress members or their attack on Dean everytime he says something that needs to be said by Democratic leaders.

They should have learned by now that all the "shocking" things Dean has said have ALL been true.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

7. Thank you Howard Dean, a leader.

[MelissaB]

8. This is what people have been yelling for. Come on guys. Hit the button.

Recommend

[MelissaB]

9. .

:kick:

[MelissaB]

11. .

Yeah, I'm a determined woman. :)

[AirAmFan]

16. .

[AirAmFan]

12. FINALLY! The Democratic Party starts to line up on OUR side of Dubya's 'class warfare'

'class warfare'.

Like the NY Times of the 1960s, the NY Times led the way for Dean's "no-brainer" appeal with an editorial this week:

From http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/03/opinion/03sat1.html?n=Top%2fOpinion%2fEditorials%20and%20Op%2dEd%2fEditorials

"Katrina's Assoult on Washington

... One thing is certain: if President Bush and his Republican Congressional leaders want to deal responsibly with a historic disaster of this scale, they must finally try the path of honestly shared national sacrifice. If they respond by passing a few emergency measures and then falling back on their plans to enact more tax cuts, America will have to confront the fact that it is stuck with leaders who neither know, nor care, how to lead.

The pre-Katrina plan for this Congressional season was to enact more upper-bracket tax cuts for the least needy, while cutting into the safety-net programs for sick and impoverished Americans. These are the very entitlement programs most needed by the sudden underclass of hundreds of thousands of hurricane refugees cast adrift like Dustbowl Okies. Will Congress dare to go forward with these retrogressive plans in the face of the suffering from Katrina? Its woeful track record suggests that, shockingly, the answer may be yes.

G.O.P. leaders are set to mandate billions in Medicaid and antipoverty cuts this month, while the Senate is poised to try again to repeal the estate tax, a monumental folly that will deprive the deficit-ridden government of an estimated $750 billion in vital revenue in the first decade. The theory is that over the long run, the missing money will "starve the beast" and force Washington to make huge cuts in federal programs. The public has never bought this, but as long as the economy held up, it was willing to ignore the long-term implications.

That can't be the case now, when those implications are sitting in filthy refugee centers, when the streets of New Orleans are under water and when the nation must take care of hundreds of thousands of homeless people. Yet President Bush has still managed to repeat his no-taxes mantra. Senator Mary Landrieu, the Louisiana Democrat, is now fighting for every available dollar to restore her state. Republicans had been wooing Ms. Landrieu as a possible supporter of the estate tax repeal. Now, we presume, she has higher priorities."

[katinmn]

13. Howard Dean stood up. Still waiting for the others.

Where are they??

[AirAmFan]

15. I'm really sorry John Edwards didn't do a Lieberman and keep his Senate

seat when he ran for VP. Edwards recognized why the Rethugs FEAR "class warfare". Their "solid South" has a longstanding, deep Populist streak. Remember Huey Long? Long came to prominence after the poor were shafted in the 1927 flood. Water actually was directed from flooded wealthy areas into poor areas that had remained dry.

Is history about to repeat itself? The greatest potential for Democratic electoral advances may be in previously "safe" Republican seats in and near the Gulf. Populist Democrats have clear paths to organizing for "AtlantisGate" upsets in 2006 and 2008. And after seeing on TV just how hundreds of thousands on the Gulf Coast had poverty thrust upon them, millions of truly compassionate people who've voted for Reagan and other plutocrats may have second thoughts. They won't ever be able to look at homelessness, poverty, lack of healthcare, or living paycheck-to-paycheck quite the same way again.

[Liberty Belle]

14. Media blast this and demand that this be aired!

[MadeinOhio]

17. Its time Dean air this on TV. Its time the whole country & world see. CNN

Can air it easy.