The past five years in Washington have been a time of misplaced priorities and missed opportunities by the Bush administration and the Republican-controlled Congress.
Phil Avillo was specifically talking about the fiscal insanity that has overtaken Washington since 2001, but his words ring true for just about everything George W. Bush and the rubber-stamp congress have touched, including national security, the Iraq War, energy policy, etc.
Phil is one of the Fightin' Dems, and he's running against three-term incumbent Todd Platts in PA's 19th district.
Here are a few more gems from the above
op-ed that appeared earlier this summer after the Repubs approved more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans:
Letting Donald Trump, Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, Paris Hilton and the rest of the super-rich loot the U.S. Treasury, especially in a time of war and record deficits, may be a priority for Rep. Todd Platts and his Republican cohorts, but it isn't for me - nor for the mostly Republican voters I speak to when I go door-to-door.
HR 4297 is the wrong bill at the wrong time for the wrong reasons. According to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, taxpayers making $30,000 to $40,000 annually would save about $20 in taxes while those who earn more than a $1 million would rake in at least $43,000 in savings.
These types of unbalanced tax breaks are fueling the record deficits of the last five years. George W. Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress inherited record surpluses and turned them into record deficits in record time. Since Bush submitted his first budget in 2001, the federal debt has increased by $2.5 trillion.
A basic principle of good government is pay as you go - not borrow as you please. The fiscal policies of this administration and its friends in Congress not only threaten to bankrupt this country financially, but these record deficits also endanger our national security. The higher our national debt, the more we have to rely on foreign investors.
Currently, China is one of the largest purchasers of U.S. government bonds, which fund our deficit spending. Do you think being beholden to an anti-democratic country like China is a good thing? I don't.
Phil has the passion, drive and smarts to take down a Bush apologist like Platts in a supposedly "safe republican" district.
If you'd like to help Phil send Platts packing, go here.