Demagogue

Republicans in Congress are fond of handing out tax breaks, right? Well, sort of. Y'see, it all depends on who the beneficiaries of those tax breaks are. If the beneficiaries are wealthy individuals or corporate interests, the answer is definitely "yes."

But the GOP leadership has yet to extend several tax breaks that will soon expire. These tax breaks primarily affect middle-class Americans -- teachers, for example. Teachers are permitted to claim a modest $250 tax credit for personal money they spend on classroom or school supplies.

Each year, many teachers spend hundreds of dollars out of their own pockets to purchase supplies -- books, rulers, scissors and other instructional aids or materials -- that their school districts are unable or unwilling to provide.

Apparently, paying back teachers for personal money they spend to help educate America's schoolchildren must strike the GOP as wasteful. After all, that money was needed for really important things, like the bridge to nowhere that will connect an island of 50 people with Alaska's mainland.

The Republican leadership in Congress has failed to renew this tax break for classroom teachers, but GOP leaders were happy to pass a special tax credit for wholesalers of distilled spirits.

It's about priorities.