According to the Associated Press, our beloved president's new economic plan provides tax relief to approximately 92 million people who are not me, or anyone like me. To wit:

"(White House Press Secretary Ari) Fleischer said 46 million married couples would receive average tax cuts of $1,716; 34 million families with children will benefit from average tax cuts of $1,473; and 13 million elderly taxpayers would receive a $1,384 tax cut."

I don't want to overemphasize this, but once again, young, single, independent-minded folk get shafted like nobody's business. Just because we're not married and don't have kids, we don't get the tax break lovin'?

And I'm a little wary of Bush's inclusion of unemployment benefits in his grand plan. It could mean the measure gets short shrift in the debate phase, because it's only one cog in a huge, unwieldy effort of questionable economic effect. As such, it could go down in flames as part of the overall plan, with the president then able to cover his own ass by saying he tried. Moreover, I'm a little concerned at the press focus on the 750,000 people whose benefits ran out on December 28th, as mine don't expire until later this month. Then again, even if they move on 13 weeks starting Jan. 1, I can live with that. If the current Democratic proposal for a full 26-week extension actually gets anywhere, I may be forced to vote Democratic for the rest of my natural-born life.

Unless I, you know, get a job this month, in which case, fuck 'em.