'Let them eat cake,' 2003

The GOP's core Marie Antoinette trickle-down theory of social responsibility -- crumbs from the master's table for the servants and kitchen help, and "let them eat cake" for the rest -- is no better illustrated than by the pizza industry tax break included in Bush's new budget, as reported by Patrick Martin in a five-parter running on the World Socialists Website:

* and an $891 million deduction for companies that donate leftover food to charity, sought by the pizza franchise industry. The only limitation on this effort to make it profitable to deliver stale pizza to soup kitchens is a requirement that donated food be “apparently wholesome.” Story

And you can bet there'll be self-congratulations all around at the next Rotary Club prayer breakfast.