The GOP are becoming very brazen about their evil aims. Grover Norquist is letting us all know that he and his cohorts desire to destroy our entire system for the rich. How can he be so bold? Because he assumes 1) the general public don't know and don't care and 2) there's nothing we can do about it. Will we prove him right?
Tipping the Republicans' Hand?
Norquist is, of course, assuming Bush will win reelection next year, and nothing in politics is as certain as he may think. But this is a plausible scenario, and his description of what Republicans will do with the opportunity is one that commands attention.He foresees Bush signing into law measures to abolish both the estate tax (or "death tax," as he calls it) and the capital gains tax. He also expects to see a statute that will make all savings accounts tax free. This is hardly speculative. Bush already has seen Congress pass a phaseout of estate taxes and a reduction in capital gains levies. The tax-free savings idea was floated by the Treasury last winter but temporarily set aside. With an increase in corporate deductions for capital investments and an end to the alternative minimum tax -- designed to catch those who would otherwise shelter all their income -- Norquist says the Bush era will eventually produce the conservatives' dream of a flat-rate income tax. When janitors and CEOs have to give the same share of their paychecks to Uncle Sam, Norquist foresees voters uniting in a continuing demand for ever-lower rates -- and no longer will Democrats be able to advocate tax hikes that target only the top brackets.
The consequence of this -- not spelled out in his essay but clearly in his mind -- is a massive rollback in federal revenue and what he regards as a desirable shrinkage of federal services and benefits. In short, the goal is a system of government wiped clean, on both the revenue and spending side, of almost a century's accumulation of social programs designed to provide a safety net beneath the private economy.