Hightower Lowdown

George W. is at it again, promising everyone a seven-course dinner in the form of a magic tax cut. But, while wealthy Americans truly would feast on Bush's $1.6 trillion tax-whack, the meal for the vast majority of us will turn out to be a possum and a six pack.

Meanwhile, things we really need—like universal health care—will go begging because Bush will say with a shrug, "The money is just not there." This is a shell game he practiced as governor of Texas. In 1997 and 1999, he backed massive tax cuts for business and homeowners, declaring that "everyone" would benefit.

Those who don't own a home, of course, were left out entirely, but even homeowners soon learned that the tax cut was a fraud. Yes, a billion bucks a year were allocated to school districts to allow them to lower property taxes. But Bush backed other legislation requiring schools to undertake new tasks, and all the while school enrollments were skyrocketing. Very few districts could cut their tax assessments at all. Most Texans got a school-tax increase under George W.

Bush left Texas in a fiscal mess. The money he shifted to school districts and the real tax breaks he gave to corporations have taken $2.5 billion out of the state budget. This year, teachers desperately need an affordable health plan, but it would cost $2 billion—so Bush conservatives shrug and say, "The money is just not there."