Do You Believe President Bush?

To watch "The Talking Points Memo" in the Screening Room click here.

Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly.  Thanks for watching us tonight.  Do you believe President Bush?  That's the subject of this evening's Talking Points Memo.

The President is running around the country banging the tax cut drum, but the Democrats and some Independents are not dancing to the beat.  The old mantra that Mr. Bush wants tax cuts for the rich is still being circulated by many who believe that the wealthy should carry those Americans who cannot or will not earn much money.

And that is what it comes down to, ladies and gentlemen: income redistribution.  Do you believe that Americans who make more than $53,000 a year should give some of their earnings to other Americans who make less than $30,000?  Those of us over the 53K threshold pay an astounding 83 percent of the federal income tax right now.

And the Democrats, led by Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton, want that percentage to rise.  In fact, the feds now send $30 billion a year in refunds to people who pay absolutely no federal income tax at all.  This is free money for those who don't earn much.

So, the system takes from those who have and gives to those who do not have.  It is the Robin Hood tax system.  Do you want that?  We have opened a poll on billoreilly.com to hear your voice, so let us know.

The Bush tax cut would give money back to all Americans, most of the whom will wind up giving it right back to the government because local taxes are going up.  Here in New York City, Mayor Bloomberg is taxing everything that moves.  But the good mayor is not asking his labor force of -- are you ready -- 255,000 to work more hours.  Currently, workers in New York City put in a taxing 35 hours a week, not counting lunch and breaks.

Because President Bush wants to give a break to all American taxpayers, he's being demonized as a shill for people like me who earn good money.

But what's really going on here is simple.  Should the government continue to spend without accountability, as New York City has, or should it deal with fewer funds?  Bush wants fiscal discipline imposed by tax cuts, and I agree.

For example, California is so mismanaged by an incompetent governor and a piecey legislature, that the state is out of control and will remain so.  And where does [California Governor] Gray Davis look for financial help?  Right to the federal government.

Massachusetts spent $10 billion more than Ted Kennedy promised on a road project.  Nobody in Washington batted an eyelash.  That's because affluent Americans can always be ordered to pay more and more and more, even though everybody knows the tax system is corrupt.

Americans must decide what kind of country we want to live in--a country that stresses self-reliance--or Sweden.  Vote on billoreilly.com.

And that's The Memo.

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day"...

Actor Jack Nicholson is a big hit with the movie Anger Management, and, in real life, Mr. Nicholson may need to calm down a little.

There he is at the Laker game.  He's a fixture there.  Five hundred bucks for that seat every game.  And, recently, he did not agree with a referee's call, and...

Oops, there he goes.  He's standing up and yelling.  There he is.  There's Jack.  And he told the press after the game no one can make him sit down.  Well, at 7'3" and more than 300 pounds, maybe Shaquille O'Neal might be able to do that, but perhaps not.

Anyway you cut it, Nicholson's display was ridiculous.  Fans should not be in the game.

So there you have it, OK?