More of the Bushies' Take-From-the-Poor, Give to the Rich" Policies in Action

As The Times reports:

The federal government is moving to eliminate the jobs of nearly half of the lawyers at the Internal Revenue Service who audit tax returns of some of the wealthiest Americans, specifically those who are subject to gift and estate taxes when they transfer parts of their fortunes to their children and others.

The administration plans to cut the jobs of 157 of the agency’s 345 estate tax lawyers, plus 17 support personnel, in less than 70 days. Kevin Brown, an I.R.S. deputy commissioner, confirmed the cuts after The New York Times was given internal documents by people inside the I.R.S. who oppose them.

The Bush administration has passed measures that reduce the number of Americans who are subject to the estate tax — which opponents refer to as the “death tax” — but has failed in its efforts to eliminate the tax entirely. Mr. Brown said in a telephone interview Friday that he had ordered the staff cuts because far fewer people were obliged to pay estate taxes under President Bush’s legislation.

this is more of the George Bush/Dick Cheney/Karl Rove/Grover Norquist policy to ensure that the poorest Americans carry the greatest burden of taxes.

As some of you may recall, Norquist, Rove, and company stated early on in this administration that they wanted to shift the tax burden even more from the wealthiest to be carried by the poor, because they feel it not only makes their friends happy (and it does! Cheney got a million-dollar-plus tax refund this year for 2005 taxes) but also they hope encourages the poor to vote against government spending and taxes in general.

With it, they've managed to get some of the poorest Americans to yell and cry foul at "the death tax" knowing full well (that is, the Bushies know) that the poor usually don't have to worry about being left multi-million dollar estates as the Bushes and the Cheneys do.

Heinous? You bet. Utterly irresponsible at a time of great national debt and reckless government spending and sweetheart no-bid-contract deals for the likes of Halliburton? Absolutely. Typical Bu'shit? You got it, kidderoos.