Bush cuts aren’t helpful

I recently read the position statements of Washington candidates running for various offices. Every Republican stated they want to keep the Bush tax cuts. Cathy McMorris Rodgers: “We saw economic growth and increased revenue when they were passed.” Actually that is a myth, because the tax cuts added $2.3 trillion to the $10.7 trillion debt passed on to President Obama.

I also saw a TV clip of George Bush announcing the tax cuts because his administration had inherited a budget surplus and he wanted to give the money back to the American people. Actually, his argument for tax cuts is now an argument against extending them.

Forty-seven percent of 1040 filers don’t pay any income tax and the average tax on a middle-income family of four is 4.6 percent of gross income. So I wonder what all those angry people with tea bags on their heads are protesting.

On my median Idaho retiree income, I saw an income tax savings of $30 a year from Bush’s tax cuts. I can easily live without that. Right-wing fearmongers love to scare their followers with “THE DEFICIT”! Here is their chance to eliminate the part created by their president.

Janet Callen

Coeur d’Alene