Tuesday, January 23, 2007

State of the Union and Stuff

Health insurance
Tax cuts for folks who enroll in company health care plans. $7500 for individuals and $15,000 for families. The catch is that the employer would be able to use the health benefit as a taxable income.
Immigration
Not much here since nobody is getting elected.
Education
We need it and there will be lip service in the form of the not child left behind program. However, keep in mind that the no child left behind program was designed to, as blogger Gerald Bracy puts it, “NCLB would funnel large sums of public funds into the private sector through vouchers, transfer much control of public education to private companies, and to reduce or destroy the influence of two Democratic power bases, the teachers unions.”
Taxes
NO NEW Taxes… wait that was another Bush. This one will want to make permanent the current tax cuts, I.E. keep the uber rich flush with money and give the rest of us those why-do-I-even-bother type tax cuts.
Environment
Blah Blah Blah. From what I’ve read, Bush plans to outlines steps to reduce the emissions of green house gasses and “pay” big business in the form of tax credits to do the right thing.
Iraq
I predict a policy of staying the course and the tried and true tactic of scary terrorism as justification for anything and everything.
Energy
How about this, real tax incentives for the consumer to drive energy efficient cars, real budgets for companies to develop real technology which will reduce foreign oil dependency, real change in our development paradigm and a funding source the comes from the same crisis mentality that allows the US to spend 360 billion thus far in a failed attempt at war.

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