9) In the 1980's the average American income of the richest one percent in the U.S. increased from $280,000 to $550,000. *
8) Through ''tax reform'' in the 1980's, the richest 1 percent of Americans had their income tax lowered 25%.
7) The Bush administration wants to give our hard-earned tax money to religious organizations, some of them pretty kooky, and they don't even want it. It's also unconstitutional.
6) George W. makes Dan Quayle look brilliant, and the misguided brain of the outfit, Veep Cheney, could drop dead at any moment.
5) Under Reaganomics, an investment banker receiving $1000 pay increase and earning $200,000 a year would pay an additional $180 in taxes. An auto mechanic making $27,000 a year would pay $356.50 in taxes. A self-employed plumber with a working wife who had a joint income of $86,000 would pay $483 more in taxes.
4) The Bush administration wants to get rid of estate taxes, (assets of up to 1 million dollars soon to be exempt), capital gains taxes, all those taxes on the rich so more of the burden will be on the middle class. As a member of the middle class, I expect a tax return of about $65.00. Well, whoopee.
3) Gas and oil prices are increasing, but why would the two oil millionaires in the White House be anxious to solve the problem?
2) President Bush has already broken promises, it's a bad gene inherited from the ''read my lips'' guy. And he's verified that he doesn't care about arsonic in the drinking water, injury in the workplace, illegal emissions from factories, the environment or reproductive health of women around the world. What he does NOT do is inspire---------
1) CONFIDENCE - and that's the name of the game on Wall Street. Investors' confidence in our government's ability to bring positive solutions to our economy, foreign policy, environment, health care or anything else, for that matter, has collapsed.
Bush and his Republican cohorts in Congress will prove to us once again that it does make a difference - a big, fat difference - what political party controls this country.
* Statistics from the 1980's are derived from records of the Congressional Budget Office, Internal Revenue Service, the Tax Foundation, Korn/Ferry International (an executive search firm) and the Washington Post, all presented in a column by Richard Reeves in early 1990s.
Overheard at choir practice this week, ''Funny how no one talks anymore about investing Social Security funds in the stock market.''
Caroline Porter is a freelance writer from Galesburg who can be reached at (309) 342-1337 or cporter@galesburg.net.