Call me the political pessimist if you want.

Political hard bodies just can’t stop talking about how we are almost two months into George W. Bush’s presidency and things seem pretty good. Of course, I see it in a different light. I think Bush surrounded himself with so many people - all of whom are more qualified than he is to be president - that he hasn’t been allowed to screw up.

But fear not bleeding liberals - he will.

I will give him credit for one thing, though. He’s made a lot more decisions in regards to foreign policy than I thought he would by this time. He’s already bombed Iraq in a fashion that would make his father proud and, hold the phone, GWB finally made it out of the country.

Despite living so close to the border while in Texas, Dubya went into Mexico as president. Of course, he obviously isn’t attempting to rack up frequent flyer miles. Vice President Dick Cheney has had more heart murmurs than Bush has international visits.

Simmer down, my conservative friends. This isn’t one last jab from some sore Gore supporter. Like I said, Bush is doing better than I thought he would.

America is still in one piece and I’m still alive.

So other than his landmark trip to Mexico and his Iraqi peace offering, what has Dubya been up to?

Well, he eliminated recent workplace and health standards and that whole controversy over the separation of church and state. Hmm. Well, like I said, at least a state has yet to secede.

I’ve been labeled a “liberal of the month” and a Democratic sympathizer by my critics. And I could get into a huge diatribe about separation of church and state and all that. I’ll just leave it like this: I agree with that little doctrine and don’t approve of the measure. But I’m not proudly displaying a Dubya bumper sticker on my car for another reason.

The biggest newsmaker of little Bush’s presidency has been all the buzz around his massive $1.6 trillion tax cut. Hence, as if it even mattered, this is why Bush is not getting two thumbs up from me.

Call me old-fashioned, or call me a liberal of the month, or you can call me whatever you want, but I just think America should take care of our national debt first. As America’s upper- and upper-middle class citizens lick their lips at the thought of getting their tax cuts, let’s ponder something for a minute.

The debt is sizable. The longer we wait to pay it off, the more interest it collects. You think that spring break trip to Mexico on your credit card bill is going to cost you a ton in interest? As of Tuesday, our national debt was more than $5.6 trillion. Eat your heart out, Visa.

If you take that $1.6 trillion and put it toward our debt, you’re left $4 trillion in the hole. That sounds a whole lot better to me than being down $5.6 trillion.

Now, now, I know a tax cut of some kind might help relieve some of the stress from our economy. Things are looking a little bad right now. I admit that giving a little back to John Q. Public might allow for him to put in that sunroof he always wanted or buy little Jimmy his first car on his 16th birthday.

However, we need to get our priorities in order. If I owe, let’s say, $5,000 on my credit card statement, I’m not going to start giving out money to all my friends. If I’m in the hole, I want to get myself out as soon as possible. The longer I wait to pay off the ones I am indebted to, the more it’s going to cost me in interest and the less money I will have to buy what I want or need (in theory, although I know that has never stopped the federal government.) Only after I was out of the red would I ever consider giving away money. Doesn’t that make sense? I hope so.

And what of all this talk about the tax cut being “your money” and that the tax cut will go to the “common man” or whatever terminology they’re using in Washington these days? If this money that he wants to give back is mine, than whom does the debt belong to?

I was having a discussion with a state legislator the other day that brought up an interesting point. Supporters of Bush’s tax cut claim 40 percent will go to the top ten percent of wage earners. What I didn’t realize, whether for lack of skill in economics or lack of media coverage, is the top 10 percent pays 40 percent of taxes.

The way I see it, Bush is trying to pull a fast one over on Middle America. He says the money will go to everyone, including the common man. I don’t see it as such. It looks to me like Bush is sneaking this one by Middle America and paying back all of the big campaign contributors who helped get him elected.

Let’s hope campaign finance reform isn’t too good to be true and that it is actually an attainable goal. I’m all for politics, government spending and bipartisanship. Hell, I’m even for tax cuts, but I think we need to not only pay off our national debt, but we need to take a real close look at just who is benefiting from it.

I know I won’t be.

Dan Austin, a political theory and constitutional democracy and journalism junior, can be reached at austind1@msu.edu.