via my
blog...
After the deadliest week yet in the Iraqi conflict, the bodies of those fallen soldiers are beginning to make their way back home. The Defense Department has confirmed that over 60 men and women were killed last week, this coming nearly a year after Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq. The New York Times reports:
The dead came from cities and small towns across the continental United States, as well as from Puerto Rico and the Mariana Islands. They came from all the major service branches -- the Air Force, Navy, Army, Marines, as well as the Army National Guard and the Army Reserve.
They were as young as 18, as old as 45. At least two were women.
...Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Bush took time from his latest vacation to give a tax-day speech in Des Moines, Iowa. Bush did not attend one memorial service for a returning soldier, but instead is taking part in a two-day symposium on rural America. It is good to know that when given the opportunity to pay tribute to the young men and women who are dying in his conflict, Bush has no problem ignoring these responsibilities in light of taking part in campaign activities. Citing last month's job creation, Bush claimed personal victory in the war on taxes...what a trooper.
But while our soldiers are dying daily due to Bush's botched foreign policy, it is good to know that his domestic policies are doing some good...at least for him and the rest of his tax bracket...
From the Washington Post
Both Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney benefited from the tax cuts they pushed through Congress.
Bush and his wife, Laura, paid $227,490 in federal income taxes last year -- or about 28 percent of their adjusted gross income of $822,126. In 2002, about 31 percent of their adjusted gross income of $856,056 went to federal taxes.
The difference from one year to the next was even more pronounced for the vice president.
Cheney and his wife, Lynne, owed $253,067 in federal taxes last year -- or about 20 percent of their adjusted gross income of $1.3 million. In 2002, they earned slightly less but paid more in taxes, 29 percent of their $1.2 million in income.