The fiscally responsible thing to do

That's how Bush made his case for permanent tax cuts in the SOTU. There have been plenty of ugly stories emerging about the latest White House budget. And they largely center around the continued devotion to upper-class tax cuts even as the working class is further squeezed for nickels and dimes. This story shows just how hard the GOP has been working to ramp up the Snidely Whiplash Factor in their economic policy:

WASHINGTON - President Bush's budget calls for elimination of a $255 lump-sum death payment that has been part of Social Security for more than 50 years and urges Congress to cut off monthly survivor benefits to 16- and 17-year-old high school dropouts.

If approved, the two proposals would save a combined $3.4 billion over the next decade, according to administration estimates.

Any attempt to reduce Social Security benefits — no matter how small — could face intense opposition in Congress in an election year.

"There they go again," Sen. Chuck Schumer, the New York Democrat who chairs his party's campaign committee, said Tuesday of the administration. "They can't resist trying to cut Social Security and to cut a survivor's, a widow or widower's benefits; it just shows how warped the priorities are in this budget."

I guess the logic is that a teenager who has to leave school to work and support a family is screwed anyway, so why bother lending a hand. And all the right-wing hacks are tripping over themselves today blasting attendees of Coretta Scott King's funeral for 'politicizing' the passing of a political activist who fought for the disenfrachised. Maybe some enterprising scientist can invent an engine that turns phony reactionary outrage into financial assistance for orphans and widows. (That's me-- always looking for a free market solution.)