Feds need to make tax cut permanent

Presidents from both parties — Kennedy and Bush to name two — have firmly taken the position that tax cuts stimulate the economy and increase tax revenue to our treasury. Our president, together with members of both parties, is pushing for the issuance of a rebate to individual taxpayers for the purpose of jolting the economy. Now, I'm not smart enough to prove if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Intuitively, however, I say any program that keeps more of your dollars out of Congress' wallet is a good thing. Similarly, any program that pries your tax dollar out of their hands and gets it back to you is also a good thing.

What confounds me here is this: Congress does not want to make the tax cuts permanent — they want your and my dollars back in their hands — while in the same breath they are in favor of the stimulus rebate. Am I being stupid here, or isn't this proposed rebate the same thing as a tax cut, just with a different name? How can our legislators be for one and not the other? Could it be they can't stand the idea of you deciding how to spend your money, e.g. a permanent tax cut?

STEVE BIXEN

Sandpoint