Bush's tax relief effort a lot better than nothing

Democrats called the modest tax cut huge, gigantic and gargantuan. Yet they scoff at the rebate checks Americans are receiving, saying they are tiny, minuscule and insignificant.

Millions of Americans are expecting up to $600 soon from the federal government as part of President Bush's $1.35 million tax cut.

The money comes from the excess funds the government had collected beyond what it needed to operate. But to hear some rebate opponents describe it, giving people their money back is akin to stealing. Some even make the ridiculous claim that it cuts school funding.

We're waiting to see their own tax cut proposal and hope that it will eclipse the Bush tax relief.

In fact, one about the size of the Reagan tax cuts might be just the medicine with the economy faltering after an 18-year run of prosperity.

The critics also could help curb Congress's shameless lust for pork-barrel spending.

The Cable News Network recently reported that lawmakers had added more than $433 million than last year to just one of the 13 appropriations bills it must pass for the upcoming budget.

The spending includes $2 million to repair a statue of the Roman god Vulcan in Birmingham, Ala.; $2 million to expand the National Fish Health Laboratory in West Virginia; $1.2 million to study brucellosis in bison at Yellowstone National Park; and $2.3 million for a monument at the Little Big Horn battle site in Montana. That doesn't include the many smaller items, such as $500,000 to

protect an endangered rodent in Colorado.

One virtue of the modest tax cut is that Congress will have less money to toss at such endeavors.

-- Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville

July 28