July 29, 2005

Dems Pretend Good News on Economy Doesn’t Exist

Oliver Stone:

[Bush] created a war in Iraq that has further helped bust the economy...

Stone is completely out of touch with the facts.

From the NY Times:

Sharp Rise in Tax Revenue to Pare U.S. Deficit

For the first time since President Bush took office, an unexpected leap in tax revenue is about to shrink the federal budget deficit this year, by nearly $100 billion.

On Wednesday, White House officials plan to announce that the deficit for the 2005 fiscal year, which ends in September, will be far smaller than the $427 billion they estimated in February.

And growth of the economy is the strongest it's been since 1999:

The economy grew by 4.4 per cent last year, the strongest performance since 1999. Private economists believe this year could clock in around 3.5 per cent, a slower but still healthy pace.

Those who opposed the tax cuts made a potentially serious mistake in doing so, and Stone would have us repeat that error.

See also these previous posts:

Lower Taxes Make the Economy Stronger 

Lower Tax Rates Are Resulting In Higher Tax Revenue 

A Myth Debunked: Bush Tax Cuts Did Not Favor the Rich

Newsweek in Self-Destruct Mode: Calls American Public “Gullible”

Newsweek's opinion of the American public is on display:

The vast majority of these so-called terrorists that the U.S. military brags about killing and capturing are actually insurgents fighting the American occupation and the fledgling Iraqi government. Categorizing them as terrorists has probably played well with a gullible American public—indeed, it probably makes them feel safer—but factually speaking it's wrong.

At a time when Newsweek's ad sales are off, you'd think its editors would be smart enough not to insult their own readers.

By the way, Newsweek's argument that those born in Iraq who are fighting against Iraqi democracy cannot be considered terrorists is based on Newsweek's wild assumption that they aren't involved in suicide bombings targeting civilians:

Most dictionaries define insurgents as members of an organized revolt against a recognized government, usually through harassment or subversion. Terrorists, on the other hand, generally target civilians, using violence for intimidation or coercion, often for ideological reasons or under cover of religion. It's clear that both are operating in Iraq at the moment, and equally clear that there are times when the line is blurred.

Newsweek presents no evidence that those born in Iraq aren't involved in suicide bombings, and, as quoted, even admits that it is "clear that there are times when the line is blurred."

What makes Newsweek think it can make a profit by insulting its readers and making stupid claims it can't back up? Note that this comes after a lot of other questionable behavior by this magazine this year.

Daniel Pipes: CAIR Tacitly Acknowledges It Was Founded by Islamic Terrorists

DANIEL PIPES REPORTS THAT IN MARCH 2004 an organization called Anti-CAIR was sued by CAIR for making a number of statements, including the following:

• [CAIR is an] organization founded by Hamas supporters….
• CAIR was started by Hamas members….
• CAIR … was founded by Islamic terrorists.

Then in June, 2005, CAIR filed an amended motion, dropping its objections to all three of the above claims, and retaining its objections to two additional statements. Per Daniel Pipes:

CAIR's filing an amended motion has two apparent implications: that CAIR has tacitly acknowledges the truth of Whitehead's deleted assertions; and those assertions can now be repeated with legal impunity.