In his big Iraq speech last week, George W. Bush told his "fellow citizens" that the year ahead will demand "more patience, sacrifice, and resolve." What did he mean by "sacrifice"? A tax increase to pay for the war? A draft to provide the troops needed to fight it?
Not exactly.
It turns out that the president thinks Americans are sacrificing plenty already.
"Well, you know, I think a lot of people are in this fight," Bush said in his interview with Jim Lehrer yesterday. "I mean, they sacrifice peace of mind when they see the terrible images of violence on TV every night. I mean, we've got a fantastic economy here in the United States, but yet, when you think about the psychology of the country, it is somewhat down because of this war.
"Now, here in Washington when I say, 'What do you mean by that?' they say, 'Well, why don't you raise their taxes? That'll cause there to be a sacrifice.' I strongly oppose that. If that's the kind of sacrifice people are talking about, I'm not for it because raising taxes will hurt this growing economy. And one thing we want during this war on terror is for people to feel like their life's moving on, that they're able to make a living and send their kids to college and put more money on the table."
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