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Sleepy Joe: Off and Running
By Tim Siggia
January 24, 2003
Well, it seems that Sleepy Joe Lieberman has hit the campaign trail, and this time he's going for all the marbles: not just to be Second Banana, but to become The Man. That means things are going to get really strenuous now, and The Sleepster's going to have to work harder than ever before. It means that for at least a year or so he'll have to forego his morning nap, his afternoon nap, and the one he generally takes in between. Well, so be it war is hell. (In case you missed it, Hartford Courant columnist Stan Simpson actually called our good senator "Joltin' Joe" in one of his columns. Sorry Stan, but as every baseball fan knows, there is only one Joltin' Joe -- and his last name isn't Lieberman!)
The Republicans have failed to keep their campaign promises, says Joe, and the economy is flagging. He conveniently doesn't mention that it was the policies of his party's last president that put us into this mess but that's okay, we already knew that. What he wants to do is revive the economy and put more money into the hands of the middle class. Well, well, well: we finally agree on something! So, Senator Lieberman, if you are reading this column - and I hope you are - here's how you can do something to achieve what we both want without waiting two more years to do it: When the measure comes up in the Senate, you can vote to make President Bush's tax cuts permanent. That way you can not only help to achieve what you and I both want - and take a measure of the credit for making it happen - but you can demonstrate, once and for all, that you are sincere and that it is not all just campaign rhetoric.
We both know that tax cuts do in fact spur economic growth by allowing more money to be invested in the economy and therefore generate increased revenue, paradoxical as that may sound. Ronald Reagan knew this, but not without precedent: Presidents Truman and Kennedy knew it as well -- and they were Democrats! Not only that, but should you choose this avenue, the public will be behind you: poll after poll has revealed that the voters want their taxes cut, despite what McAuliffe & Company keep saying about "Tax Cuts For The Rich". Tax cuts benefit all taxpayers. Period.
Of course, if all this sounds a bit daring for your blood, you can always opt to keep following the current mantra of the Democratic Party, and keep telling us that tax cuts benefit the rich only. This begs a question: who are the rich, anyway? Since I have defended them in at least one previous column, I must be one of them, right? Well, yes I am, and I must confess it here. (I use the word "confess" in deference to the Democrats' insinuation that being rich is something to be ashamed of.)
Compared to the indigent, and to most denizens of Third World countries, I am rich. I and mine do not sleep in dumpsters, nor do we eat out of garbage cans, and it is highly unlikely that we ever will. So now that we have established that I am rich, the next question is, how rich am I? Without getting unnecessarily specific, I will tell you, truthfully, that I am a postal worker - not a manager or an executive sitting in a carpeted office with Muzak piped in.
No, no, Senator, I am not engaging in my own brand of class warfare and begrudging what you have rightfully earned. The point is that if I am rich, I've got a whole lot of company - including you. Tax cuts for the rich? I'm all for it, seeing there are so many of us! And if it happens that those who truly are rich - let's say, those making upwards of $100,000 a year - would get a bigger break than I, could the reason possibly be that they bear a higher percentage of the tax burden? Conversely, if those who truly are poor - those making $25,000 a year or less - would get nothing at all in the way of a tax cut, could the fact that they pay no taxes at all possibly have something to do with that?
Well, there, I've done it. I've given Sleepy Joe a bit of advice which, should he choose to take it, will not make him president but will restore his credibility and the people's confidence in his integrity. An integrity that is in much needed of renovation after the avalanche of flip-flops during the Gore-Lieberman campaign of 2000.
Anybody taking bets that he'll rise to the challenge?
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