According to a speech Bush made in Wisconsin a few days ago, wealthy people are encouraged by Bush to avoid paying taxes by hiring lawyers and accountants.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/08/19/on_trail_bush_reprises_average_guy_role?pg=2
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But your fellow citizens ought to worry about somebody who is out there making promise after promise after promise, like over $2 trillion worth of new promises, and not telling you how he's going to pay for it. You know, he says, well, we can pay for it because we'll tax the rich. Well, we've heard that kind of language before. And you know what happens with this kind of tax the rich deal. That's why they've got accountants and lawyers. (Laughter.) So the rich figure out ways not to pay, and you get stuck with the tab. That's not going to happen in 2004. (Applause.)
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/08/20040818-11.html
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The comment of itself is totally outrageous, considering the fact that the federal government is currently running huge deficits thanks to Bush and Republicans, and millions of people in this country live in poverty, however, what makes me really angry about this episode is that Bush seems to think that he can make such am outrageous comment, and can get away with it because television networks won't mention it on network nightly news.
The last part of the Boston Globe article quotes a comment made by a retired trucker.
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Dale Babbitt, a retired trucker from Eau Claire, Wis., who was at the rally yesterday in Chippewa Falls, said he likes the fact that Bush occasionally misspeaks. It shows that he is a ''real person" who is not overly concerned about appearances, he said.
''He talks the way he is -- take me as I am," Babbitt said.
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This person reminds me of people of Kansas mentioned in a book writtened by Thomas Frank called "What's the Matter with Kansas? How Conservatives Won the Heart of America."
In the book, Frank discusses Kansas working class conservatism, and how year after year, working class people vote for Republicans against their own economic interests, making them poorer and poorer.
In my opinion, it is amazing (in a negative way) how George W. Bush is seen by some like this retired trucker as an average guy, even though he was born to privilege, and the policies he and Republicans pursue hurts the average (working class) person.
It just makes me really angry.