Read his lips.
John McCain has promised not to raise my taxes. Ever.
Won't raise yours either, he says.
I don't find that reassuring. I hope you don't, either.
Republicans love to talk in absolutes.
No new taxes. No "amnesty." No "surrender." No "socialized medicine." No talking to our enemies. No serious discussion of serious issues. No new ideas. No. No. No. No, we can't.
Well, that's not entirely true. They're more than happy to put new ideas on the table that serve their own agenda -- tax cuts for the rich, giving money to "faith" based groups (as long as you're part of the right faith), signing statements asserting the president's right to ignore laws passed by Congress or interpret them any way he likes, insisting on the right to listen in on any phone call they choose without warrants or oversight.
They have an agenda. They just don't want to debate it. Disagreement equates to disloyalty. Everything is black and white. You're with us or you're against us. They use their buzzwords to shut down debate or divert attention from the real issues. Meanwhile, they tell us we can have anything they want without having to sacrifice or pay for it. I guess that's what our kids and grandkids are for. Paying for their excesses.
Our economy is in deep trouble. One reason for that is the out-of-control spending and borrowing by our national government. The only way we'll able to fix that will be serious debate of all the options open to us, including less spending and more taxes -- and the political courage to act on a real solution that almost certainly will mean sacrifice and pain. But the Republicans will do everything they can to vilify anyone who wants to talk about raising taxes -- especially taxes on the rich.
Can't talk about undoing the mess in Iraq. That's "surrender." Immigration reform? Can't discuss anything that includes "amnesty." Health care reform? No "socialized medicine." And so it goes.
We have some serious issues to fix. The only way we'll be able to do that is to have serious discussions about serious issues without debate-killing buzzwords and partisan gotchas.
So, read my lips. No new absolutes.
That's my two cents' worth. What's yours? -- Jerreigh@contemplayshuns.com