Posted on 11/22/2011 5:14:59 AM PST by tobyhill
A long-running war between Democrats and Republicans over Bush-era tax cuts doomed the debt supercommittee's chances of reaching a deal. Efforts to overhaul the tax code may await the same fate as both parties gear up to make taxes a central issue in 2012 elections.
Republicans insisted during the supercommittee negotiations that curbing tax breaks to raise revenues be coupled with guarantees that all the Bush tax cuts would continue beyond 2012. The tax cuts, which affect families at every income level, were enacted under President George W. Bush and were extended through 2012 under President Barack Obama.
Republicans for years have bashed Democrats as eager to raise taxes — a theme they will employ often in next year's elections — so they weren't about to agree to a tax hike unless they also could take credit for preventing a huge tax increase scheduled to take effect in 2013.
Democrats countered that the supercommittee was created to reduce the budget deficit, not add to it by extending tax cuts. Most Democrats, including Obama, want to extend the Bush tax cuts only to individuals making less than $200,000 a year and married couples making less than $250,000.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
There was never intention for this “Super Committee” to work. It was just a vehicle for use by the RATS to force major automatic cuts to defense.
This is the Lame Stream Media's Democrat excuse.
The answer is “It’s Bush’s fault”.
Feel free to supply you own question.
I suppose then that the Repubs should have ensured it worked so that there wouldn’t be automatic cuts to defense.
Doing nothing caused this to happen. Doing SOMETHING could have changed the outcome. Now, with the President threatening to veto any bill that bypasses these mandated cuts, the power has shifted back to The White House.
The Bush Tax Cuts and the Deficit Myth —
Runaway government spending, not declining tax revenues, is the reason the U.S. faces dramatic budget shortfalls for years to come.
With Washington set to tax $33 trillion and spend $46 trillion over the next decade, how does one determine which policies “caused” the $13 trillion deficit? Mr. Obama could have just as easily singled out Social Security ($9.2 trillion over 10 years), antipoverty programs ($7 trillion), other Medicare spending ($5.4 trillion), net interest on the debt ($6.1 trillion), or nondefense discretionary spending ($7.5 trillion).
There’s no legitimate reason to single out the $4.7 trillion in tax cuts, war funding and the Medicare drug entitlement. A better methodology would focus on which programs are expanding and pushing the next decade’s deficit up.
Entitlements and other obligations are driving the deficits. Specifically, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and net interest costs are projected to rise by 5.4% of GDP between 2008 and 2020. The Bush tax cuts are a convenient scapegoat for past and future budget woes. But it is the dramatic upward arc of federal spending that is the root of the problem.
Raising the 10% bracket to 15% represents what percentage of increase? Hint: The correct answer is NOT 5%.
Raising the 20% bracket to 25% represents what percentage of increase? Hint: The correct answer, again, is NOT 5%.
Finally, raising the 35% bracket to 39% represents what percentage of increase: Hint: The correct answer is NOT 4%.
Extra credit question: People in which tax bracket will see the largest percentage of increase in their taxes?
Extra extra credit question: People in which tax bracket will see the smallest percentage of increase in their taxes?
To those moving from the 35% to the 39% tax bracket...that’s roughly an 11% increase in taxes.
From 20% to 25%...that’s a full-blown 25% increase in taxes.
To those moving from the 10% bracket to 15%, their taxes will be increased by a whopping 50%.
As long as the GOP takes the senate next year the Bush tax cuts will never expire.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.