>On Fri, 11 Jan 2002, Nathan Newman wrote:
>
>> Why should Dems be bipartisan- they actually do like winning elections,
>
>Except Presidential ones, especially the ones where they won the popular
>vote by 500,000 ballots.
>
>I still haven't seen one single Dem say anything about the godawful
>18th-century shambles masquerading as the US electoral system.
>
>The Dems and the Reps are the Constitution-Taliban and the Oil-Taliban of
>America -- so equally appalling, they're not even worth crossing the
>street to piss on.
And they even exasperate Ed Koch!
Doug
----
New York Times - January 14, 2002
Repealing the Tax Cut
To the Editor:
Re "A Wary Rank and File Watch Daschle's Attack" (Political Memo, Jan. 9):
President Bush's tax reductions unfairly favor the rich, wasting resources that could finance a national health plan and prescription drug coverage. Nevertheless, the president achieved his tax cuts, which over the next decade will result in a loss of government revenue of more than $1.3 trillion.
The tax cuts could not have been adopted by Congress without Democratic support. Tom Daschle, the Senate majority leader, and former Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin denounced the cuts as responsible for the recession and huge future deficits, but refused to call for their repeal, seeking to finesse the issue. Mr. Rubin said it was the Republicans' obligation to put forth a proposal.
Mr. Rubin is wrong. If Democrats oppose the cuts, they should have the courage to propose repeal or reduction. If Democrats simply denounce the cuts, and Republicans respond with "Democratic obstructionism," the former will fail, and the latter will prevail. Leadership is required.
EDWARD I. KOCH New York, Jan. 9, 2002