With no specific evidence, Lynch whined that Allen was GÇ£smear[ed]GÇ¥ by GÇ£Democratic dirty tricks.GÇ¥ But with unconscious irony Lynch acknowledged GÇ£the sort of aggressive . . . insurgent campaign at which he [Allen] is best.GÇ¥ Indeed, the truth is that Democrats did not GÇ£shovel dirtGÇ¥ on Allen. He buried himself. All that voters needed were the facts about his past, his do-nothing record as a senator, and his mean-spirited campaign image and language.
But the problems with Allen and his party go much deeper than his sad, wasteful campaign. Voting 97 percent of the time for the Bush-Cheney agenda, Allen bears some responsibility not only for the fiasco in Iraq but also for our nationGÇÖs deepening fiscal crisis and its harmful effects on ordinary Americans. ItGÇÖs so ironic that, while purporting to be conservative, he and his party are not. Instead, they practice policies of spend-and-borrow, and let the children pick up the tab.
And a gargantuan tab it is. In fact, this newspaper reported on 09/29/06 that the federal deficit for 2006 is not $260 billion (as claimed), but instead $437 billion. The extra $177 billion was GÇ£borrowedGÇ¥ from Social Security, which Allen and the current administration criticize for GÇ£going brokeGÇ¥ and then plunder to pay for a counter-productive war and pet projects.
Having been GÇ£borrowed,GÇ¥ the $177 billion increases the overall national debt, which by 01/07 will reach $8.5 trillion. This is indebtedness to which the policies of Bush, Allen, and the GOP have added more than any other leaders and party have in American history.
The effects of such fiscal folly on ordinary Americans take far too many forms to enumerate here. But, along with all our other tax burdens, the cost simply to pay the annual interest on our national debt adds significantly to our taxes. And because Allen, this administration, and their party favor huge tax breaks for the rich and for corporations (Exxon, Chevron, et al.), the rest of America has to make up for the deficit disproportionately. Because the GOP prescription drug bill prohibits our government from negotiating for lower prices from the pharmaceutical companies, most people pay more taxes and most on Medicare pay higher prices.
Briefly put, the tax policies of Allen and the GOP are to defer and transfer: defer the bills to the future and transfer the main responsibility for them to AmericaGÇÖs middle-class. ItGÇÖs utterly disgraceful that, while Allen and fellow legislators have consistently voted pay raises for themselves, they reject a modest boost in the minimum wage, which has not been raised in almost 10 years! From Allen and his party, ordinary Americans usually get the shaft. And thatGÇÖs largely why he and his party lost in the recent election.