Look Who's Holding the Economy Hostage Now

Investor's Businss Daily ^ | 07/16/2012 | IBD Staff

[IBD editorial writer]

Inequality: Democrats say they'll let all the Bush-era tax cuts expire if they can't raise taxes on the rich. Apparently, economic catastrophe is a reasonable price to pay for class warfare politics.

On Monday, Sen. Patty Murray, who heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said that "unless Republicans end their commitment to protecting the rich above all else, our country is going to have to face the consequences of Republican intransigence."

What she really means is Democratic intransigence.

[csmusaret]

The Congressional budget office says the top 20% of earners pay 68% of all the income taxes paid while the bottom 20% pay nothing. Obama says 68% is not a fair share, and I agree with him. The top earners do indeed deserve a tax cut.

[csmusaret]

MYTH: The Bush tax cuts caused the deficit. FACT: In 2002, tax revenues were $1.85 trillion. In 2007, revenues were $2.57 trillion — a 39 percent INCREASE.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Let it happen.

[IamConservative]

Also, I think this is a dying gasp of Democrats who are facing losing the WH and Senate majority. They was to put the next congress and President in as deep an economic hole as possible. Fargin scumbags.

[allendale]

The entire scenario is not sustainable. Sixteen trillion in debt, continuing trillion dollar deficits, unfunded entitlements, an overtaxing, over regulating government that is contracting the productive economy. However painful it eventually has to collapse. A certified fool like Patty Murray would be just the right catalyst.

[bray]

Commie Reid is holding up the vote not the Repubs.

Pray for America

[GoldenPup]

This is turning into a game of “MEGA-CHICKEN”. It will be interesting to see who blinks first.

[sickoflibs]

RE :” Democrats say they'll let all the Bush-era tax cuts expire if they can't raise taxes on the rich. Apparently, economic catastrophe is a reasonable price to pay for class warfare politics.
On Monday, Sen. Patty Murray, who heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said that “unless Republicans end their commitment to protecting the rich above all else, our country is going to have to face the consequences of Republican intransigence.”
What she really means is Democratic intransigence.
After all, Republicans have taken the perfectly reasonable position that the last thing you want to do when the economy is barely breathing is raise taxes.
Obama himself once made that argument, at a time when the economy was doing better than it is today. And a few level-headed Senate Democrats agree.
Yet now, faced with a tough re-election and desperate to score political points, Obama says he'll veto any bill that extends all the Bush tax cuts, and Democrats, as evidenced by Murray's comments, are falling in line.”

Right now this has less to do with what happens the end of the year and everything to do with the November election and courting voters. And that election will determine to some-degree tax policy as Obama WILL veto tax cut extensions this time around, and blame Republicans.

The flip side is that now that Dems got super-mega-rich Romney to beat up for being out of touch with ordinary Americans, they now want to bait Republicans into as they phrase it :”Opposing tax cuts for the middle class and supporting tax cuts for mega-rich outsourcers like Romney”. It fits the script.

You got to wonder what that last RINO congress in 2010 achieved for us by temporarily extending those cuts through Obama’s election. The last thing Obama wanted was any taxes to go up back in late 2010, but those Republicans by ‘winning’ that extension (to the upper earners) saved him and gave him an election year issue to go with too, perfect with Romney as an opponent. Worse yet to get that deal they cut FICA and put SS recipients on the public dept gravy train, now Republicans don't know how to undo that and just caved on that once again.

I think the best option would have been if Democrats alone raised taxes on the rich when they had the house, but there is no way Dems could get their own votes in the Senate even though they only needed 50+Biden in the Senate.

The next best option would have been if the NE RINOs who betrayed us on DADT in late 2010 at the same time went along with Democrats in the Senate and just extended the middle class tax cuts and let the upper ones expire. If that happened the debate over taxes would completely different now. We now would be talking about how Obama's tax increases is what's killing the economy, instead Dems are saying the tax cuts are not working (this argument is easily pulled apart but Republicans dont appear smart enough to do it.)

Yes Rush, you sometimes win by losing. Obama was helped by (looking like) he lost that one vote in late 2010 when it was really a win for him. I am not optimistic.

[InterceptPoint]

Commie Reid is holding up the vote not the Repubs.

LOL. You are clearly not using Patty Murray type logic which goes something like this:

Reid can't call a vote on the Obama Bush Tax Cut Plan because he will lose the vote. But that's because so many Republicans (and only incidentally, a few Dems) will vote against it. So, clearly, this is the fault of the GOP and not the Dems. Reid is just doing his job.

Is there any doubt that the NYT and the rest will report the Patty Murray version?

[New Jersey Realist]

Why is it that demorats don’t understand that when you are out of money you MUST stop spending? We’ve borrowed trillions and that didn’t help so now we need more money from the rich to pay that off. When the heck does it stop?

I have a great idea. Congress, how about reducing your pay and automatic raises by at least half? That should help about as much as anything else. Yeah, let’s give that a try.

[cuban leaf]

Your post says what I’ve been saying for a long time now:

The core problem is the electorate.

[cuban leaf]

Seems pretty simple, really. The R’s say they want to extend the tax break for everyone, including those that make over $250,000 since they are also the employers that produce things. And since the R’s are “pro-jobs” they want to be “employer friendly” and not kill jobs by raising taxes and fees on employers.

Then drive this home like a broken record and when someone says “same old talking point” just say, “To say the sun sets in the west is a talking point. It is also truth. Why do you hate truth?”

[Aevery_Freeman]

Life must be so much easier without a functioning brain. Almost makes one wish to be a DemonRat.

[Vaduz]

The democrats are still in the extortion game.

[sickoflibs]

RE :”The core problem is the electorate.”

There is another huge problem. Republicans finally got the WH and both houses congress and successfully passed tax cuts and it seemed to help the economy for a while, tough to prove because there was also growing deficit spending, very low Federal reserve interest rates ( stimulus) for 2 or so years and a housing bubble which could never be sustainable that also boosted the economy temporarily, and inflation.

So GWB leaves office after 8 years with an economic catastrophe. This is hardly a good selling point for any policies Republicans pitch. If Bush left office with a booming economy none of this would be debated now and tax cuts would be an easy sell.

Then we get Obama and a huge Dem majority and voters turn against them for a while because the economy is not not improving as deficits skyrocket.

But now we got split government and its all down to a finger pointing game. There is no one we can trust anymore. It's just bad vs worse. I guess this is why I am so pessimistic. Even if we get Republicans in charge again they will take over the excuse-making job from Obama.

[dfwgator]

The Republicans are so anxious to cut taxes, because it plays well. But frankly, the better approach is to cut the spending first, then cut the taxes.

[Little Ray]

Call the bluff. Let the Democrats force a tax increase on everybody, and nail ‘em to the wall.

Oh, wait. The MSM will never bring this to the attention of the sheeple, and the ‘Pubbies don’t have the guts...

[Gilbo_3]

the electorate, and the media and the politics of soundbytes...etc etc etc...

eventually it comes down to the fleas being allowed to vote on which dog to suck dry...with a few variables mixed in...

take a meataxe to the 'budget' and then see how much cash is needed to support the Constitutional requirements of gubmint...

that couldve/wouldve worked 40 yrs ago...

at this point, we're tryin to prioritize who gets the lifeboats, and most pols believe they *deserve* that seat...

[stephenjohnbanker]

” take a meataxe to the ‘budget’ and then see how much cash is needed to support the Constitutional requirements of gubmint...

that couldve/wouldve worked 40 yrs ago...

at this point, we’re tryin to prioritize who gets the lifeboats, and most pols believe they *deserve* that seat... “

Most GOP House & Senate members deserve to go to jail, or starve to death in the streets. Why? Because even though they are whores who sold us out, they KNOW BETTER, and don’t give a rats a$$ about our country anymore. Taken as a group, they have sold us out completely. They will take their outrageous pensions, and then go work as a $1,000,000 a year lobbyist,(Trent Lott, et al) or go “double dip “ as an executive for Archer Daniels Midland, or whatever corporation or special interest group “bought” them during their career. That goes for around 90% of the sunzabishes!