Your tax dollars at work

It seems that President Bush needs another $80 billion for the war in Iraq (and Afghanistan. I'd love to know the proportion) I think that comes out to about $250 per citizen of the United States. It would be difficult to get that much out of me, but stuff like Rome's school taxes do a pretty fair job.

In other news, New York's lesser senator, Charles Schumer, has introduced (again) legislation designed to even out the trade deficit with China. I'm a fan of Lou Dobbs' CNN show (when he's actually hosting) and there was an interview with the senator tonight. In essence, China ties its currency to the US dollar, which means that the weak dollar does nothing to make Chinese goods more expensive. Schumer seeks to correct this by putting a 27.5% tariff on all Chinese imports.

Personally, I don't like China's economic or social policies. We should extricate ourselves from them entirely. Trade policy has had too many carrots and not enough sticks. I also think this measure will die a certain death in the House if not the Senate. I propose tying the tariff into the appropriations bill. If Bush wants more money for Iraq, it should come out of the pockets of Wal-Mart and other major customers of Chinese goods. With a trade deficit of $60 billion with China alone each month, Bush could get his money before income tax day.