Tax relief with a cost

President George W. Bush had a brief stay in Big Sky country yesterday before leaving this morning for Michigan. Cheers greeted the president along with signs for tax relief now.

Bush and his entourage, which included former Gov. Marc Racicot, Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., and Rep. Dennis Rehberg, R-Mont., made the second stop in a three-state trip promoting his tax cut and budget proposals.

The message delivered in Billings was clear: Bush will bring the screaming masses more money.

The money, Bush said, is from the government's budget surplus.

That money is not the government's money. It's the people's money,'' Bush said in a recent Associate Press story. The government didn't earn that money. You earned the money. ... It sounds like to me somebody is being overcharged and we need to ask for a refund.''

If America is doing so well, as Bush claims, then, yes, the American people deserve to see a tax refund to help make pad our bank accounts.

But if this so-called tax relief plan is going to cost the people more in the long run, then, no, we at The Havre Daily News believe we shouldn't be given the refund only to be asked for a bigger tax a year or two later.

Our tax dollars need to be used to fund the good programs, such as national defense to educating our children, as well as reducing the national debt.

Tax relief now yes, but as long as we don't mortgage the future of our great nation.