I’ve been meaning to write about this story anyways, but this exchange from Crossfire really says it all :

BEGALA: Well, there are some good things in the tax bill being voted on in the senate today, specifically tax cuts for the middle class. But one provision of that bill shows the true heart of the Republican Party in the age of Bush, and it’s not a pretty sight.

The bill takes away the child tax credit from 9.2 million of the very poorest children in America, while giving $13 billion in tax breaks to corporations. That’s right. The rich get billions. The middle class gets a little something. It is, after all, an election year. But the poor, and I mean the poor, families making less than $10,750 a year, will actually lose some or all of their child tax credit. Sorry, you’re out of the game, but thanks for playing.

The savagery, selfishness, really sinfulness of the Republicans hurting the most impoverished children in our country while helping huge corporations is just stunning. Friends, if this is compassionate conservatism, I guess Dick Cheney is Mr. Rogers.

CARLSON: OK, well, the sinfulness, huh? Well, thank you, Father Begala, for your — you’re a holy man and I appreciate you spreading a little of your holiness to the rest of us.

BEGALA: It is sinful.

CARLSON: And I must say, Paul, when you get done with this gig, maybe you can apply for a job in the propaganda bureau of the North Korean government…Because this is so stupid, that it’s sinful. It’s a tax bill, man. Lighten up. It’s not sinful.

BEGALA: No, they are screwing the poorest children in America while giving money to corporations.

CARLSON: Lighten up, Paul. Lighten up, man.

BEGALA: No.

CARLSON: You’re going to have an aneurysm. Settle down, Paul.

BEGALA: That’s the kind of stuff that gets you in hell.

CARLSON: You’re making me worried. They’re going to hell now? Going to hell now.

BEGALA: Yes, they are, for that stuff.

CARLSON: Ladies and gentlemen, the Republicans are going to hell, says Paul Begala.

BEGALA: Yes, they are. They can, as far as I’m concerned.

CARLSON: Woo! Buckle your salvation belts, baby. You’re going to hell. OK.

BEGALA: Absolutely.

But that ain’t the end of it. A minute later, when Paul was responding to a piece about the Dan Rather investigation being handled by a Republican, Tucker couldn’t resist the urge to keep being an asshole :

BEGALA: I praised — I praised Dan Rather when he took responsibility and apologized. But he’s wrong about this. And you’re right. Dick Thornburgh — I ran the campaign against him for Harris Wofford and beat him. But he is a fair-minded person.

CARLSON: Is he going to hell, like other Republicans?

BEGALA: If you make a mistake like this…

CARLSON: Is he going to hell, though? You can tell me. Is he going to hell?

BEGALA: If he supports screwing little poor children, Tucker, you bet.

CARLSON: He’s going to hell. He’s going to hell. Holy smokes, Father Begala.

BEGALA: Yes.

CARLSON: Will you heal me after this show? Will you heal me after this show? Will you touch me and heal me, anoint me with oil?

BEGALA: You can mock it.

CARLSON: I am mocking it.

BEGALA: But there’s no moral justification for hurting those children.

CARLSON: As long as you anoint me with oil, Paul, I’m all better. Going to hell.

BEGALA: You know what? You can mock my religion if you want, Tucker.

CARLSON: I am. I’m mocking you’re religion. If your religion is based on tax cuts, I’m mocking it. Going to hell, baby.

BEGALA: Jesus said suffer the children who come unto me, not suffer children, which seem to be the Republicans’s point.

CARLSON: We’re going to pass the plate later in the show.

Keep this exchange in mind the next time you hear some conservative bitch about liberals being intolerant of Christianity.

As far as the reason those Republicans are going to Hell, here’s a little more background on the tax raise :

The dust-up centers on an obscure provision in the 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut that Congress passed in 2001. That tax cut expanded the $500-per-child tax credit to $1,000, but it also made another child credit available as a tax refund to some poor families who pay little or no federal income taxes.

Such families were allowed to claim a child credit worth as much as 10 percent of their earnings over $10,000. But the 2001 law stipulated that the $10,000 threshold would rise with inflation, effectively slicing into or eliminating refunds for families whose income does not keep up with inflation. The threshold now stands at $10,750.

Because incomes at the bottom end of the workforce have largely stagnated, the rising threshold has had a significant impact, said Leonard E. Burman, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute. Of the 11 million families claiming the child tax refund, more than 4 million — with 9.2 million children — will see their credit shrink or disappear in 2005, Burman estimated.

And since the members of “God’s Own Party” love to wear their religion on their sleeves, here’s a quote from Bush’s favorite philosopher to end things :

Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Well….there’s a message you’ll never hear from a Republican…