House passes "tax cut" deal

Moving with "uncommon speed", the House passed along, unaltered, the Senate bill which extended the "Bush" tax cuts. It extends the lower tax rates for another two years for every American, even those super evil rich people. It even keeps the estate tax lowish, allowing all estates under $10 million to be passed along tax free and taxes everything above $10 mill at a "meager" 35% (Because the person who has that much money doesn't deserve to give it all to his children. Thanks for saving his descendants from all that hard earned money, Big G!).

The bill contains a fair amount of sweeteners for the other side, including extending unemployment benefits for an additional year.

Of course there were many detractors. Most, including Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y), complained that we just couldn't afford the lower taxes on the rich. Even if we allow that tax revenue would go down with the lower tax rates (it doesn't), the problem we have with the budget is one of spending, not income.

The government needs to run it's budget like every other budget is run on the planet. Start with the amount of money you have, or can expect to receive. Then, spend that money based on your priorities and not a cent more. If the money runs out, guess what: You can't spend any more! Something has gotta give.

Until that day Congress will always find a way to rationalize more and more spending. It's easy to say "Well, all this stuff is awfully important, so let's raise taxes." It's not so easy to say "This function of government is more important than that one. So, we're going to stop doing that one to pay for this one."

Now the government can get back to other things. Like blatantly ignoring the opinions of combat soldiers.