Sarah Palin's War on Taxes ... and History
John Perr
CrooksandLiars
Among the qualities that uniquely define Sarah Palin is that she doesn't know what she doesn't know. But as her confusion about climate change, the First Amendment and even Alaska's energy production showed, Palin's ignorance of a subject is no barrier to her speaking out with great conviction about it. So it is once again with talk of potential tax increases to fund the escalating war in Afghanistan. War time taxes are never necessary, Sarah Palin seemed to suggest this week, because during World War II "many Americans gave what little money they had to buy the war bonds that funded it all."
As Andrew Sullivan noted here and here, the Quittah from Wasilla used this week's anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to invent a new myth about how the United States mobilized and paid for the war which followed it. Palin wrote this December 7:
(Continued here, with hotlinks.)
CrooksandLiars
Among the qualities that uniquely define Sarah Palin is that she doesn't know what she doesn't know. But as her confusion about climate change, the First Amendment and even Alaska's energy production showed, Palin's ignorance of a subject is no barrier to her speaking out with great conviction about it. So it is once again with talk of potential tax increases to fund the escalating war in Afghanistan. War time taxes are never necessary, Sarah Palin seemed to suggest this week, because during World War II "many Americans gave what little money they had to buy the war bonds that funded it all."As Andrew Sullivan noted here and here, the Quittah from Wasilla used this week's anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to invent a new myth about how the United States mobilized and paid for the war which followed it. Palin wrote this December 7:
The attack on Pearl Harbor launched America into the Second World War, and our Greatest Generation did not hesitate when asked to sacrifice for their country. American men enlisted in droves, American women went to work in the factories that became our "Arsenal of Democracy," and many Americans gave what little money they had to buy the war bonds that funded it all.Of course, in reality Americans funded the war through massive debt and massive tax increases (above).
(Continued here, with hotlinks.)
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1 Comments:
Proving the adage that even a stopped clock is correct twice a day, Palin may be right. “They simply need to prioritize our money appropriately.”
If it’s a spending issue, choices can be made.
Should the country spend $300 million for the National World War II Museum (which has been championed by Representative – now Senator – David Vitter (R-LA) … or 600 MRAP All Terrain Vehicles (M-ATV) that are needed in Afghanistan ?
I wrote a commentary after seeing Representative John Kline (MN-02) on television protesting the consideration of taxes to pay for this military engagement.
As Kline well knows, the war zone in Afghanistan is different than the one in Iraq … and although some personnel may easily be moved, the equipment is different. Yet, Kline has continued to vote for F-22s even though the DOD doesn’t want them and they are not used in the current war zone. When confronted about his vote (which was an earmark offered by Rob Bishop R-UT) by a true fiscal conservative, Tim Penny, Kline said it would be good for jobs.
During election season candidate Kline likes to talk about stopping pork projects but Representative Kline has no problem with military pork.
The Crooks and Liars piece did not highlight one of Bruce Bartlett’s critical assessments : Republicans have resolved to fight our wars on the cheap and with deceptive cost estimates. The suggestion is that with the if it takes wars to end ill-conceived social programs, then that's another argument in favor of continuing the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns.
Senator Grassley (R-IA) likes to invoke “kill grandma” … yet the Republicans know that by funding a war on the backs of future generations, that is the prescription to “kill the grandchildren” with this debt.
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