Is Cutting YOUR Taxes Chicken Crap?

The recent developments on tax cuts have been enough to drive a person to distraction, but I’m trying to put it all in one place including coverage of yesterday’s vote in the House, a Rachel video, a report on our own poll on tax cuts, a look at what’s ahead, and my own recommendation.  To start, while the House was passing the Democratic tax cut for the poor and middle classes only, John Boehner, who had previously promised to vote for it, said that without a bonus tax cut for millionaires and billionaires, cutting your taxes is “chicken crap”.

On Thursday, congressional Democrats took a big step toward resolving the fiercest battle of this lame-duck session: deciding the fate of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts. By a vote of 234 to 188, Democrats passed a bill that will permanently extend the tax cuts for couples earning less than $250,000 and single earners making less than $200,000. The bill also slashes the capital gains and dividend taxes for the middle and working classes.

House Republicans vehemently opposed the measure, with House Minority Leader John Boehner calling it “chicken crap.”… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Alternet>

Even though it will be filibustered by Senate Republicans, it’s about time someone stood up to the Republican party forcing to vote to raise your taxes, while fighting to add $700 billion to the deficit to give extra to the super-rich.  Rachel Maddow was gleeful as she and Gail Collins exposed the total hypocrisy by Republicans on this issue.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

For the last couple weeks, we’ve has our own poll on tax cuts here at Politics Plus.  Here are the results of that poll.

And here are your comments.

From TWM on November 30, 2010 at 5:50 am. 

 

Now that the poll is older it is easy to see the trend. Liberals are mostly going for their own self interests.

I wonder if those (so far) 98 people who voted to keep the middle class tax cuts only is still “borrowed money” instead of a 4 trillion dollar hole in the budget it is 2.5 trillion dollar hole over ten years for both figures.

Everyone is hurting but we really do need to raise the taxes AT LEAST back to Clinton era levels which were still some of the lowest on record. At one time the top tier tax rate was 91% compared to that 39% doesn’t sound so bad does it Mr. Blankfien?

 

From Otis on November 29, 2010 at 11:51 pm. 

 

Painful as it may be, I think ALL the tax cuts should expire. Sorry, the government is broke, and only getting broker.

If people think that we can balance the budget when times or good, I will laugh in their face. Clinton and Carter only contributed least to the deficit, not cut it. (I will add that times were certainly not good under Carter, through little fault of his own. So, there is that.) And there was no balanced budget under either. (Clinton’s ‘surplus’ included Social Security income. Since that money was previously spoken for, I don’t count that towards a ‘surplus’)

Short of an Amendment, we will never see a balanced budget. Ever. We have to get while the getting is good and at least try to slow the bleeding.

We are headed toward Greece, or any of the other PIIGS countries. Not as soon as the doomsayers think, but I can see it on the horizon.

Next: Cut spending. Everywhere. I want nobody happy or even content when the cutting is done. That CAN wait for some better times, though. But, it won’t happen. As a matter of fact, just the opposite will. Party affiliation will be irrelevant, just as it usually is on this subject.

 

From Lisa G. on November 22, 2010 at 8:23 pm. 

 

I voted for permanent tax cuts for the middle class, what’s left of it. It’s the only way to get the middle class back on their feet and to reasonably make the wealth in this country more equitable. When so much of the nation’s wealth is held in so few hands, no one has any say in matters but the wealthy.

 

From bluuman333 on November 19, 2010 at 11:07 pm. 

 

I think a four year tax break for the middle class and then review it . This would have an effect of stimulating the economy, for now. Not sure about anything permanent.

 

From SoINeedAName on November 17, 2010 at 9:26 pm. 

 

I actually could have lived with a one year extension for those wealthy folks making $250,000 or more … until multi-millionaire Tom Brokaw gave “advice” to Pres. Obama on tax cuts saying:

“… don’t call families making $250,000 a year rich.”

Source:

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_11/026504.php

Only in the delusional world of the likes of Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, Chucky Todd, David “Dances-With-Rove” Gregory, Matt Lauer and all the other NBC Teapublican toadies is an income $250,000 consider “NOT rich.”

 

From Infidel753 on November 15, 2010 at 8:47 am. 

 

Middle-class tax cuts must be kept for the sake of the economic stimulus they provide, which is more important than deficit reduction at this point. Tax cuts for the wealthy don’t provide the same stimulative effect, so it would be better to end them for the sake of the deficit.

I voted for the third option, which includes temporary tax cuts for the rich, because it would be worth it if this enabled a few Republican votes to be swung. If it’s absolutely impossible to pass a middle-class tax-cut extension without caving on permanent cuts for the rich as well, Obama should abandon compromise and tell the country in blunt terms who’s blocking cuts for the lower 98%.

 

From TWM on November 15, 2010 at 4:26 am. 

 

Painful as it is we are a household making minimum interest only payments on the national debt the only way to reduce it is to tax all(including foreign companies doing business here) and legislate that money be used only for debt reduction.

I would find the extra money for the higher tax by consuming even less than I do now which then shifts the entire world paradigm of America consuming goods from all over the world while not being allowed open access to other markets.

If for example Korea is not going to open their markets and we are going to keep ours open then Hyundai for example should be willing to pay a share of their pretax profits to decrease the trade imbalance. That tax again should go only to deficit repayment.

I voted temporary middle class cuts only.  At this time cutting back the spending power of the poor and middle classes would cost thousands of jobs.  Working class people spend their money, unlike the rich.  But I would would be willing to review it in the future for deficit cutting purposes, after recovery.

Looking ahead, here’s what we can expect.

The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote tomorrow on two Democratic proposals to extend Bush-era tax cuts before they expire at the end of the month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said. Neither proposal is likely to pass.

Reid, a Nevada Democrat, said the Senate would follow yesterday’s House passage of a measure to extend lower rates only for middle-class Americans. The Senate proposals include a version of the House bill, which sustains lower rates only on the first $250,000 of a married couple’s annual income, and another that would extend the lower rates on the first $1 million of income.

Reid earlier yesterday had been prepared to allow votes on two competing Republican proposals, senators said. That plan changed suddenly when an unidentified Republican senator objected to having all four votes today, Reid said… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <Bloomberg>

Both of these measures will fail, because Republicans will goose step in lock step in filibustering them.  However they will clearly demonstrate that the Republican Party id happy to screw everyone in America for the sake of multi-millionaires and billionaires.  If the Republicans refuse to give in, let it stand.  Let the Bush cuts expire without replacing them.  This runs against my self interest, because my tax rate will go up 50%.  I’ll make that sacrifice.  DO NOT CAVE-IN!  Let Republicans go home to their districts and tell their constituents why they blocked tax cuts for 99% of Americans, why they refused to extend unemployment benefits and sent two million hard working American families to soup kitchens for Christmas, and why they blocked the START treaty, that five former Republican Secretaries of State have said must be passed as soon as possible, all because they couldn’t get an extra $700 billion for millionaires and billionaires.