A big Duh to you and the Republicans Tom. We've known about the issue of looming SS and Medicare deficits was coming for over a decade. Remember someone named Ross Perot who cost Bush 1 an election and forced a democratic President to show some fiscal sense? It's why we need to pay down the national debt so money currently spent on interest payments can be used to pay these obligations rather than wasted on paying for past excesses.

It appears fiscal responsibility is no longer part of the Republican agenda. They don't have the guts to pay the political price of actually scaling back planned benefits, but they are quite willing to ignore the problem and compound it by giving tax cuts to their primary contributors. They don't even have the guts to push reforms in social security to allow some privatization and higher rates of return on the money paid in.

The tax cuts were fiscal irresponsibilty plain and simple. I showed you how your 80's growth rate data showed no great stimulous from the Reagan tax cuts other than to extend the income gap and saw no direct reply. Now we here the same Reagonisgue rhetoric once again ignoring past history.

As for you past comments on what constitites rich let me refresh your memory. Laws on the books before Bush's 2 rounds of tax cuts allowed sheltering 1.2 million from inheritance taxes with higher exemptions for family farms. There is no way anyone can claim cuts to levels above that are aimed at anyone but the wealthy.

Now if you want to honestly debate this redistribution of wealth issue fine. Like I said before I used to hold the same opinion and can see where you are coming from. But please drop the pretense that Bush's cuts aren't aimed primarily at the wealthy.

Regards,
Mark