"Middle class could face higher taxes under Republican plan, analysis finds" (WP)

[applegrove]

Middle class could face higher taxes under Republican plan, analysis finds

By Lori Montgomery at WP

http://www.washingtonpost.com/middle-class-would-face-higher-taxes-under-republican-plan/2012/06/19/gJQAD4auoV_story.html

"SNIP..............................................

The report, prepared by Senate Democrats and reviewed by nonpartisan tax experts, marks the first attempt to quantify the trade-offs inherent in the GOP tax package, which would replace the current tax structure with two brackets — 25 percent and 10 percent — and cut the top rate from 35 percent.

Those changes would benefit virtually every taxpayer, but they also would reduce federal tax collections by about $4.5 trillion over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. To avoid increasing the national debt by that amount, GOP leaders such as House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (Wis.) have pledged to get rid of all the special-interest loopholes and tax shelters that litter the code.

Republicans have declined to identify their targets. However, some of the biggest “loopholes” on the books are popular tax breaks for employer-provided health insurance, mortgage interest, state and local taxes, and retirement savings, which disproportionately benefit the upper middle class.

So although households earning $100,000 to $200,000 a year would save about $7,000 from the lower tax rates in the GOP plan, those savings would be swamped by eliminating major deductions, according to the report by the Democratically controlled congressional Joint Economic Committee.

...................................................SNIP"

[SoutherDem]

1. Republican have made it very clear they think too many people are not paying their fair share

while they feel the rich are picking up the tab.

I have yet to see a Republican tax plan which doesn't hurt the poor, while helping the rich.

[gregoire]

2. Who gives a damn?

"So although households earning $100,000 to $200,000 a year..." they already make too much money. Why should we care that the plan makes them pay a tiny portion more of their fair share? Instead, we should be complaining about the plan's affect on working people.