Here's what's really going on: To get its tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003, the Bush administration set them up to expire by law at the end of this year. So, without action by Congress, taxes will go up for everyone, back to the rates that existed during the Clinton administration. The lowest tax bracket would climb to 15 percent from today's10 percent. The highest bracket would climb to 39.6 percent from 35 percent, and all the brackets in the middle would go up, too. Tax rates on capital gains and dividends would also climb. Obama and most Democrats want to extend all the Bush tax cuts for the middle class, but let tax rates go back up to pre-Bush levels for upper-income families. Republicans and a few Democrats want all the Bush tax cuts to be extended, at least until the economy gets back on its feet. But no one will be paying a dime less in income taxes next year as a result of anything Washington does about this. The only thing lawmakers are trying to figure out is who should pay more in taxes.
Only in Washington does not hiking someone's taxes constitute a "tax cut." (John Merline, AOLNews.com, 9/15/10)
Party Unity
A group of centrist House Democrats will call for a short-term extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for upper-income Americans – a move that adds to the pressure on Democratic leaders who want any extension to apply only to middle-income earners. The group includes House Blue Dog and freshmen Democrats who are feeling the heat from voters worried that letting the tax cuts expire could worsen the recession. (WSJ, 9/15/10)
Could it be? Dems in disarray?
Who’s Crazy Now?
The Dems are falling all over themselves about the latest Tea Party victories, calling the winners (among other things) “crazies.” This from a party that embraces the likes of Dennis Kucinich, Harry Reid who takes domestic policy direction from Lady Gaga, 9/11 truthers like Van Jones, and Bernie Sanders. Oh wait, Sanders is an “independent.”
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