Taxation w/out Representation

“....real backpackers DO live here.

Ok, so Washington,DC isn't a "state" and we have no say in congress BUT...I'm filling in my personal information in the "edit account" section and in the window for state there is no option for District of Columbia, the only Washington selection is for Washington State. When will the descrimination end gddamnit!”

“Tell the webmaster.”

“Get Eleanor Holmes Norton after him! <GRIN>”

“Man, I'm hip!

I was born in Washington, so that makes me a stateless person.”

“Sounds like you are in the state of confusion, Tom”

“Another in DC huh Cym? I ended up with VA as an option, but I live in DC :o)”

“ynami, what part of town?”

“haven't we had this conversation Tom :o) I live on Capitol Hill!”

“Don't you remember, Tom. He's a congressman...


j/k, Y...”

“Senator if you please :o)”

“Ynami, I live on the Hill too.
2nd/E SE, near Capitol South”

“I'm a little further out, right by Potomac Avenue :o)”

“you work on the Hill Cym?”

“I mean, Senator Sir! Are you still consaidering joining us on the June 20th car camping trip?”

“No, I don't work on the Hill just live there. In fact, at the moment I don;t work anywhere - just an unemployed staudent bum. I used to work for an international consulting firm downtown. I moved here from Boston.”

“Possibly Tree, I should be going back to UK sometime in May, so that would make June a possbility - nothing set in stron yet though”

“make that "set in stone"”

“So you lived in DC long?”

“Cool, Y. Hope you can make it. Would like to meet you. Think seriously about it...”

“Thanks - will do, would be good to meet you gays”

“Boy this board really needs an "Edit" function...”

“Yes, we're all gay!

Oh yeah, Capitol Hill......hard for me to keep track of y'all......state of confusion, ya know.”

“lmao, and I didn't even spot that.....”

“not that there's a problem with that :o)”

“yay, another DC-er! and in SE, no less...hard-core, man.

i live in MD now, but i used to live in DC! so i'm still hard-core.
;-)”

“there you are! - I was wondering why it was so quiet -”

“they're making me do WORK.

SEND HELP!!”

“bastards!!!”

“LMAO”

“Dammit, that was supposed to be

LMAO @ lyra!”

“lol - it's ok Smiley, I wasn't looking to claim any credit for it ;op”

“what up, smiley! :-) i'm freaking out, trying to read as much TT as i can in 5 minutes. LOL!

any good gossip?

hey Cymbop, how old are you? i might have asked you that already. 22? or maybe that was someone else...”

“ok”

“Sold as economic cure, tax cuts hike deficit instead Thu Apr 24, 7:00 AM

Lost amid the good news of the April 9 fall of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s regime was a troubling economic report: The Congressional Budget Office (news - web sites) (CBO) said the deficit for just the first half of this fiscal year was a record $248 billion, nearly twice as big as a year ago.

At that pace, the federal government is on track to accumulate an unprecedented shortfall of $400 billion this year -- or $3,600 for every family -- after the bills for the Iraq (news - web sites) war arrive. And it would saddle taxpayers with higher interest payments on a ballooning national debt, just as the government must finance the retirement of the huge baby-boom generation that starts in 2011.
Yet the dire forecast seems to have been lost on the Bush administration, too. Instead of responding responsibly to congressional fears about the exploding deficit, it is maneuvering to paint its outsized tax-cut plan as something it is not: an affordable tonic for an ailing economy.
The positive portrayal by an administration eager to show it is doing all it can to buoy the economy before the 2004 election makes sense politically. But the economic policy it masks doesn't.
Among the problems with the plan:
* Rationale. The tax cuts initially were designed to help revive a sluggish economy. But many economists say growth is likely to pick up on its own in the coming months now that fears about a long war with Iraq have been lifted. Some positive signs already are emerging. Oil prices are down about 25% since just before the war, an important economic stimulus equal to a tax cut of about a $150 per family this year. Some corporations are reporting healthy earnings. And consumer confidence has rebounded.
* Timing. To squeeze its 10-year, $726 billion tax cut into the slimmer $550 billion package favored by the House of Representatives, the administration says it might phase it in more slowly. That would lower the near-term cost. But it also would undercut the claim that the plan would help create jobs right away, and it would only make deficits down the road larger.
* Consequences. The administration has no plan to pay for the tax cuts or an extra $725 billion it wants to spend on defense, health and other programs during the next decade. Following this path would add $2.7 trillion to the national debt during that 10-year period -- increasing it by two-thirds. That would burden taxpayers with an extra $500 billion in interest payments.
The administration argues that each element of its tax plan, from accelerating individual rate reductions to eliminating the personal income tax on corporate dividend payments, would boost growth in the short term and produce a healthier economy over the long haul. And a stronger economy, in turn, would help reduce the deficit. President Bush (news - web sites) is expected to make that case today, when he travels to Ohio to promote his tax-cut package.
Experience from the past 20 years, however, has shown that more than a healthy economy is needed to curb the red ink. Shrinking the deficit -- and sparing future generations from bearing its cost -- requires fiscal responsibility. That means forgoing tax cuts the nation can ill afford.”