Earlier today, President Bush
signed into law the infamous tax bill that couldn't provide a more stark contrast between the two political parties. By now, we're all pretty well-acquainted with the
reality that a $40,000 income will net you $17 in tax benefits (woo hoo!) while the millionaires among us will reap $42,000.
But there's a more powerful - and simple - metaphor lurking behind the scenes during the history of negotiation of this legislation.
When first proposed, the Senate version included a revision of arcane accounting rules under which the oil companies were escaping taxes by being permitted to undervalue oil in storage. This change would have netted the federal government approximately $5.1 billion in taxes. When the House and the White House objected, the provision was removed.
Also present in the original Senate bill was an extension of expiring college tuition deductions designed to help middle class Americans handle the spiraling cost of higher education. According to Sen. Charles Schumer, who talked to bloggers on a conference call yesterday, the savings to middle America was approximately the same as the amount originally proposed to tax the oil companies. During reconciliation of the House and Senate bills, the tuition deductions were stripped.
So. We are presented with our metaphor: continuing tax breaks for Bush's oil cronies in the same amount that was denied the middle class to educate its children. While the Republicans are claiming a second tax bill is coming down the line that will restore the deductions, Sen. Max Baucus, the top Democrat on the Finance Committee, isn't buying it:
"Hard-working Americans who depend on these already expired provisions are being told not to worry, there is another bill coming down the pike to take care of them," he said. But "a different tax vehicle has a high likelihood of breaking down."
Sounds like the broken-record refrain we've come to know and love from the Republican Party: Trust us. We'll take care of you ... eventually. After, of course, the GOP takes care of its own first, leaving something like $17 to spread between the rest of us.