The Republicans are truly unbelievable. The New York Times' Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports on their latest move to bankrupt the country to help their wealthy backers.

In a surprise move, the Senate also voted to approve a total of $134 billion in tax cuts, $34 billion more than President Bush requested and $64 billion more than the Senate Republican leadership had initially proposed.

In addition to extending the cuts on capital gains taxes and dividend income, the move was intended to repeal an unpopular tax, enacted in 1993, on Social Security benefits for the wealthy.

"It provided a huge amount of tax cuts," said Senator Pete V. Domenici, Republican of New Mexico and one of five Republicans to vote against the provision. "We didn't know what we were doing."

[...]

Senators spent nearly the entire day in the chamber, voting on more than two dozen budget amendments, on matters including national security, vocational education grants and prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries. By 10 p.m., after the vote on tax cut measures, some senators appeared a little confused about what they had done. The measure, sponsored by Senator Jim Bunning, Republican of Kentucky, passed 55 to 45, with five Democrats backing the plan and five Republicans breaking ranks to oppose it. [emphasis added]

For anyone a little confused about what the Republicans just did, just look at the numbers. At the time of the highest budgetary deficit and the highest trade deficit in American history, the Republicans decided to extend tax cuts for the wealthy.

While some might rightfully say that the Senate also agreed to restore cuts to Medicaid, it is again important to check out the numbers. The new round of tax cuts for the wealthy are about five times larger than the money for Medicaid. Talk about priorities!

This new tax cut for the wealthy is indicative of Republican philosophy today, something that is completely overlooked by pundits and members of the mainstream media alike. Whereas the GOP once believed in balanced budgets and running the government like a business, today's Republican Party only believes in one thing: massive tax cuts, primarily for the wealthy and connected.

It's time for the media to begin reporting on this fundamental fact of American politics today. This should not be buried in the latter paragraphs of a Times story. When the American people finally realize that the true aim of the Republican Party is not the restoration of "traditional values," but rather the enrichment of the powerful, the GOP will have trouble getting close to a majority in future elections.

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Just a note: I have been having frequent problems with blogger.com over the past few days. Just about every day I lose a post because server problems on their end. If the posting is a little sparse, please understand that the problem is not on this end.