A very good friend of mine is an accountant with KPMG, one of the biggest accounting firm's in the country. She provided me with the following explanation in response to my concern about the general public's inability to see through the Bush "tax break" marketing tool. Bear in mind that Meryl is an Ivy League-educated white female accountant. Her sister, Meg, is also Ivy League-educated, but is a college professor. I am offering a definition as a preface to her message because it is a term I was unfamiliar with and had to look up myself.

cognitive dissonance n. Psychol. A condition of conflict resulting from inconsistency between one's beliefs and one's actions.