Here we sit, twenty some odd days until the greatest tax hike Americans have ever seen. How long has our federal government known about these expiring tax cuts? Only for nine years… the Bush era tax cuts have been in effect since 2001 and are set to expire December 31 at midnight. Not only on the lower and middle class tax brackets but the wealthy as well (the top 2%).
On top of all this America is in the midst of the worst recession since the great depression and is looking at the highest unemployment since the Carter administration, at 9.8%.
So, here we are, days before December 31 and what is congress doing about this? Debating. That’s right, they are DEBATING, debating whether or not to raise the taxes on their suffering people.
What is the argument?… Who do we raise taxes on since we can’t control our federal spending.
Republicans seem to somewhat have their heads on their shoulders though. Republicans are demanding that the Bush era tax cuts be extended for all Americans indefinitely. While Democrats stick to their “class warfare” ideals saying, the rich are rich enough and we want their money because we could spend it much better than they could, as if they are entitled to it. The Democrats want extend the tax cuts for the lower and middle classes only, people under the top 2% tax bracket.
It really is to bad, for the Democrats, that the Republicans have the upper hand in this argument since all the tax brackets are looped together, and they are all expiring at the same time. So, without the cooperation of the Republicans the tax cuts will expire and the Democrats will have no one to blame but themselves for not compromising. Technically the Democrats are able to pass bills but they will not be able to pass a cloture vote in the senate (they are not filibuster proof).
The Democrats put on a little show for the American people this week. They tried to pass bills in both the house and senate, bills extending the tax cuts for only those making under $200k as an individual and families making under $250k. With an extra bill in the senate that would extend the tax cuts for everyone making under $1 million.
Speaker designate Boehner called this political show exactly what it was “chicken crap”. While senate minority leader McConnell calls them, “show votes” for political reasons.
Although, there is a small ray of light on this dark stormy day within the Democratic party. In the house 20 Democrats voted against this “show vote” bill and in the senate 4 Democratic senators along with 1 independent, good old Joe Lieberman, voted against them. That being said, there may be some hope that some of these guys got the message the American people sent them last month.
For once now, Republicans are sticking to their guns…. finally. They are not letting the Democrats get away with this “class warfare” crap. In a recession of this magnitude everyone is struggling rich or poor. They may be struggling in different ways but, everyone is struggling. The class warfare argument only exists because people let it exist in their minds. Some democrats say Republicans are just protecting the rich, millionaires and billionaires. The fact is we all help each other out. The wealthier Americans and entrepreneurs provide the jobs for the people that aren’t as well off, while, the middle and lower classes provide the labor that is needed to run these businesses, big and small.
All anybody has heard from the Democrats is, we are in favor of extending the tax cuts for all Americans except the top 2% of Americans. The problem is they can’t explain why. Arguments have been brought up that the wealthy are not hiring people and America’s deficit and debt is growing. Well, to bad the deficit and debt have nothing to do with taxes, only spending gets you a deficit and debt. And, for the jobs, well do they really want to punish the wealthy, the ones that provide the jobs to the middle class, for the mistakes of the federal government that led America into this recession? If that is the case the Democrats do not care for the middle class like they say they do. That is only the response of someone who doesn’t like the wealthy simply because they are wealthy. On top of all that, raising taxes on that top 2% would ruin any chance that business owners, debating on hiring someone, would hire that person. Which in turn will worsen the state of the economy and devastate the job market, all because the Democrats want to punish the wealthy when they should be punishing themselves for the mess the US is in.
Must we make the entire country suffer because the Democrats don’t like the wealthy?
Now, the congress has a decision to make, what compromise will they come to? The Republicans want the Bush era tax cuts extended for all indefinitely. The Democrats want the tax cuts extended for Americans below the 2% tax bracket. There have been some ideas out there that show some promise. One of those ideas is to extend the tax cuts for all for a few more years, temporarily, until America is clear of this mess of an economy or until it passes us by.
President Obama did say he will veto any bill that comes to him, that extends the tax cuts for the top 2%, that does not have an extension of unemployment benefits in it. Even though this will add another bill to the long list of bills we currently have that are not currently funded.
Notice Obama proves he has a set when he is battling the Republicans on taxes but misplaces them when he goes into battle with al Qaeda, the Taliban, Iran, North Korea… just a thought.
Anyway, currently, seasoned lawmakers of both parties along with Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner are discussing what is to be done with these Bush era tax cuts. While the parties point fingers back and forth at one another the simple fact remains, no body is going to get everything they want along with nothing they don’t want. There will have to be a compromise somewhere on this issue.
With Republicans actually holding their ground for the first time in the party’s history, the rest of America stands by and watches to find out if the Democrats will ignore their political hunger and extend all these tax cuts. Or, will they stick to their partisan views and prove once and for all they have more hate for the wealthy than they have love for their precious middle class? Some Democrats have even said themselves they would rather see the tax cuts expire for all than see the wealthy keep their tax breaks.
This idea of “class warfare” is a joke. It’s an argument used by a few trying to drive Americans apart and turn them against each other so they can see their power grow. Rich or poor, right or left, conservative or liberal,… whatever you call yourself, we are all Americans and we all need one another whether we like it or not. Now is not the time to be raising taxes on anyone. We need to recognize the fact that we are all struggling right now. But, if we stick together and pull through this horrid mess, we can become the great nation we were before this mess. Lets put aside all these petty differences and refer to one another as simply Americans.
-TSA…. Trent
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