Two sayings popular with the Bush team just months ago you don’t hear anymore. The first is “High oil and gas prices are like a tax”. As record corporate profits are part of those high oil and gas prices, the American consumer paid taxes to Exxon, Chevron and the like. His lingo shifted to “Dependence on foreign oil jeopardizes our capacity to grow”. This shifts the focus to those recalcitrant Middle Easterners and away from his friends in the corporate board rooms.
The second statement that has disappeared from the Bush rhetoric is “The problem with health care is first dollar health insurance”. Only CEO’s and Executive Benefit plans offer such rich health insurance coverage. For over a decade people with insurance have paid thousands per year in out of pocket costs. The Bush plan will shift more responsibility for coverage to employees, those without employment will find government coverage ever harder to obtain. Notice the President said nothing about the over 47 million Americans without health insurance in his Labor Day speech.
Heaven forbid he anoints someone else’s feet with oil as he drenches himself.
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