ALERT!

George II Has Plans For Your Future

By David Newby

President Wisconsin State AFL-CIO

By now you've probably heard or seen so much about President Bush's proposed $1.6 trillion tax cut (which will more realistically cost $2.4 trillion) that it seems like old news that nothing can be done about. You've probably heard a bit about his proposed budget, too. I won't bore you with a lot of details, but you ought to be worried and ready to take action.

First, the fairness of his tax cut:

• 40% of the tax cut goes to millionaires, the richest 1-% of Americans.

• The "bottom" 60% of Americans gets only 13%.

• One third of American families won't see one cent of tax reduction.

That's fair? It may be the way "compassionate conservatives" define fair-but not the way I do!

Second, George Bush says we are going to have this huge surplus that will fund everything we need, including his tax cut for millionaires-yet in his proposed Budget he cuts needed services, saying we can't afford them! He has already eliminated OSHA health and safety training grants, citing lack of funds. And he proposes reductions in training and employment services for people laid off from their jobs, shifts money out of the Medicare Trust Fund, reduces funding to administer Social Security (just as the number of retirees is about to explode), and cuts funding for health care for children in working poor families by 27%. What gives?

Third, George II says we have a huge "surplus" and we ought to "give it back". How can he say we have a "surplus" when 45 million Americans have no health insurance? When our schools and highways and water and sewage systems are deteriorating rather than improving? When working families are desperate for affordable, quality childcare? When so many of our retirees can't afford the prescription drugs their doctors prescribe? When costs are increasing, but the quality of care is declining due to low wages and staff shortages in the nursing homes where so many of our parents and grandparents live their last years and days?

If a company makes no investment (or cuts its rate of investment) in the training of its workforce, its equipment and its technology, it will gradually lose sales and eventually go out of business. It's the same for a state or country; the less the investment in education, in health care, in transportation and recreation and communication infrastructure-the quicker the decline in living standards and quality of life for the vast majority of citizens and the faster the disintegration of civil society.

The budget and the huge tax cut proposed by George Bush are a threat to our future. We can't simply roll over and let him risk our economic and social future just so he can reward the rich and shift even more of our resources to those who need them the least. We can't let him squander our shared wealth-so that he can argue that we have no money to fund Social Security or Medicare or provide prescription drugs to seniors or ensure a quality education for all. That was the tactic Ronald Reagan used, devised by his discredited economic adviser David Stockman. The result back then? A national debt larger than that created in all our previous history-and no money for decades to improve the standard of living for the vast majority of Americans.

Let's not be fooled again.

Don't let George Bush gamble with your family's future: Call your Member of Congress and Senators Kohl and Feingold today and tell them we want any budget "surplus" invested in health care, Social Security, education and public infrastructure-and maybe a modest tax cut for working families, not millionaires. Call Congress toll free at 1-800-718-1008, or call President Bush at the White House at (202) 456-1414. You can make a difference!

— From Wisconsin Labor News