David Cay Johnston on the Bush tax cuts

Countdown had a nice Bush tax cuts segment, including an interview with David Cay Johnston (this guy). Johnston is always very clear and very specific. (I'm including the whole piece, including the lead-in bit from Meet the Press. The Johnston interview starts at 3:58.)



So from Johnston we learn:

The Bush tax cuts were financed with $2.4 trillion in borrowed money.

Interest alone on that: All income taxes paid in January & February of this year. (That's 1/6th, if you got through grade school math.)

Right now, Small Business needs domestic demand, not tax cuts, to be profitable.

Which prompts me to ask, does Big Business need domestic demand? Because the rich are doing everything they can to kill it, and when the subject is money, those folks aren't stupid. (That's not a facetious question, by the way; it's worth pursuing. Do the rich still need the U.S. consumer?)

About that "relentless questioning" by David Gregory, I have the same media curiosity I had before. Assuming Gregory's not off the reservation, it seems he's busting Boehner's chops because:

1. The fix is in to kill the Big Boy tax cuts, and this is his piece of it; or
   
2. The fix is in to extend the tax cuts, and he's burnishing populist cred in spite of that.

Either way, he's leaving an actual mark on GOP chops — not something you normally see on the Sunday talks.

GP