Republicans put their twist on Christmas
By PHILIP GAILEY
St. Petersburg Times
12-DEC-05
http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=GAILEY-12-12-05
'Tis the season ...
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was in Europe last week engaging in
torture diplomacy, an awkwardly timed mission coming, as it did, in the
middle of the Christmas season. While Rice was reassuring European leaders
that the United States "does not authorize or condone torture," back in
Washington, President Bush and Vice President Cheney were making a mockery
of the secretary's words. The administration wants to continue doing what
it insists it is not doing, which is subjecting foreign detainees to the
kind of abusive treatment that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wants to ban.
Unlike Bush and Cheney, McCain has some moral authority on the issue. He is
a former Vietnam prisoner of war who experienced torture firsthand. The
McCain amendment, attached to the annual defense spending bill, would
prohibit U.S. personnel from engaging in "cruel, inhuman and degrading"
treatment of detainees anywhere in the world.
First, the president threatened to veto the spending bill unless the McCain
amendment was dropped. The Senate ignored the threat and passed the
amendment by a vote of 90 to 9. Bush and Cheney now are trying to negotiate
a compromise with McCain to carve out an exemption to protect U.S.
intelligence operatives from prosecution. The senator rejected the proposal
and instead has offered to allow intelligence agents charged with violating
the ban to argue as a defense that a "reasonable" person would conclude
that they were following lawful orders.
McCain is making life miserable for Bush and Cheney, and not just on the
torture issue. Dealing with him is a form of torture they would gladly ban
if they could. Contrary to what the White House may think, the McCain
amendment would not be a stocking stuffer for terrorists.
Congress, meanwhile, is in the Christmas spirit in a big way. The House
last week passed the final part of a Republican tax-cut package totaling
$95 billion. The biggest provision _ $20 billion _ would extend the
president's 2001 tax cut for stock dividends and capital gains for two
years.
"Regardless of your politics," wrote columnist Mark Shields, "you have to
admire the GOP's unflinching commitment toward closing the dangerously
widening gap between the Rich and the Super Rich."
The Republicans didn't forget the poor in this season of giving. They asked
the least fortunate to give to the most fortunate among us, a new twist on
the meaning of Christmas. To help pay for the tax cuts, the bulk of which
would go to the top 5 percent of income earners, the House passed a budget
bill just before Thanksgiving that would cut $51 billion over five years
from programs like Medicaid, food stamps and higher education. Republicans
say the needy will barely feel the knife and will benefit from the economic
growth generated by lower taxes on dividends and capital gains. What a
relief that must be to families struggling to pay their winter heating
bills and prescription-drug costs.
It's hard to think of a single sacrifice the Republicans have asked of the
nation's wealthiest citizens. I'm not talking about making tax-deductible
donations to charity or contributions to Scooter Libby's defense fund, or
Tom DeLay's. It hardly seems fair to deprive the rich of the satisfaction
that comes from making a sacrifice for the greater good.
In lieu of another tax cut, for example, the wealthiest Americans could ask
the White House and the Congress to use the money to bring down the budget
deficit. Or maybe spend some of it providing armor for our troops in Iraq
and assistance to their families here at home, many of whom are hardship
cases. And what about the victims of Hurricane Katrina? Many are still
homeless.
We haven't seen much "compassionate conservatism" from this administration,
and not much Christmas spirit, either. Maybe the spirits that changed
Ebenezer Scrooge for the better will call on the president and
congressional leaders during the holidays.
(Philip Gailey is editor of editorials of the St. Petersburg Times. E-mail
gailey(at)sptimes.com)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com.)
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