Keeping Bush Tax Cuts For Rich Like Giving 120,000 People 3 Million Each

[samplegirl]

Paul Krugman: Keeping Bush Tax Cuts For Rich Like Giving 120,000 People $3 Million Each

For months that has been the word from Republicans and conservative Democrats, who have rejected every suggestion that we do more to avoid deep cuts in public services and help the ailing economy.

But these same politicians are eager to cut checks averaging $3 million each to the richest 120,000 people in the country.

When the Bush tax cuts were passed they were done with nine, rather then ten year projections to avoid numbers that would show how harmful they are to the deficit, and to allow the law to pass via reconciliation, a process demonized when Democrats use it.

According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, making all of the Bush tax cuts permanent, as opposed to following the Obama proposal, would cost the federal government $680 billion in revenue over the next 10 years. For the sake of comparison, it took months of hard negotiations to get Congressional approval for a mere $26 billion in desperately needed aid to state and local governments.

In spite of the bellyaching of middle-class Republicans, most of the benefits go to the richest one-tenth of one percent of the population. While the right wing complains about benefits for the needy or protecting jobs of teachers and firefighters, they stay silent about the outrage of continuing these tax cuts.

http://www.alan.com/

[prolesunited]

1. I reposted this article on my FB page

I encourage others to do the same. We need people to understand how irresponsible this would be.

[samplegirl]

4. I agree and this is an Excellent article

by Krugman. We just can not let this happen!!!

[Kat45]

13. I did that last night. n/t

[dkf]

2. Raising taxes is scaring them into muni bonds.

Then they pay nothing on any tier of income.

[kentuck]

3. I hate to say this...

But I don't think we have enough honest Democrats to let the taxcuts expire.

It will be interesting who brings it to the floor. It is my understanding that if nothing is done, they will expire automatically?

[Hello_Kitty]

6. They will but there are some tax cuts to the middle class that will also expire

The plan is to bring it to the floor to let the tax cuts to the rich go while retaining the middle class ones. Therein lies the risk, I think, since the pubbies will hold the whole process hostage while demanding breaks for the fat cats.

[ejpoeta]

10. they were pretty smart to tie them together like that. the dems won't want to let the middle class

ones expire. it's like a tag along.they won't be able to keep the middle class ones without exposing the chance to get the other ones renewed.

[Statistical]

11. If nothing is done (or done in time) they all taxcuts (regardless of income) will expire. n/t

[Jefferson23]

5. K&R n/t

[HopeHoops]

7. How do I get in line for that $3 million?

[alc]

8. the rich won't let $680 billion go

There are enough loopholes and alternatives that the rich will find another way to get/keep money. Talking about what taxes do/don't expire is the easy/lazy way out (even though it will be a hard vote). They need to talk about real changes, not a few % modifications for different classes of tax while letting the rich alter which class they are going to use to gain wealth.

Think about new types of tax rates like indexing capital gains tax by jobs created/lost. if you created 1 job per 1000 shares, the rate is 10%. If you outsourced 1 job per 1000 shares it's 50%. Find a way to let them put their money where their mouth is on trickle down. Create US jobs and you get a great rate. Don't create jobs and you don't pay big taxes. Treating all capital gains the same and all income of the "rich" the same is missing a big opportunity for of incentives.

[ejpoeta]

9. the republicans spend. the lie is that somehow they don't. they spend like drunken sailors

with someone else's money. someone is going to pay for it. how can you get people to understand that they are going to spend. do you want to pay for everything or do you want the rich people to pay their fair share, because the spending is going to happen regardless of what party is in charge. the difference is who pays the bill. do you want to be the one left with the check? because the republicans want you to be left holding the check. they and their wealthy cohorts will skip out and leave you to pay the tab.

[Kat45]

12. Very true. With a difference also being what they spend it on. n/t

[ejpoeta]

14. that is true also.