What is being proposed are massive cuts to programs which help the poor and vulnerable, the working class, and ordinary middle class citizens. In effect, they are proposing massive tax increases on middle class America. A dollar more in health care costs is the same to someone as a dollar increase in their taxes. And cuts to programs are what Republicans are using as the price for keeping tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, and for keeping the huge tax deductions and subsidies for large corporations.
Automatic cuts? Yes, let the Republicans sit back while automatic cuts get made which will put even more of a burden on the middle class, while not asking anything of the rich.
Let's not do anything about the causes of the massive financial meltdown, of which deregulation of the banks is number one.
Let's blame socialism, not disaster capitalism, for the poor state of the economy (at least poor as far as average Americans are concerned).
It is not compromise when there are only spending cuts with no revenue fixes. It is capitulation. Does anybody remember last December's deal? At least we got a thirteen month extension of unemployment insurance benefits then.
Oh, yeah, and wasn't there a jobs problem? Well, eliminating trillions in spending by the middle class should certainly help create jobs.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
And We Didn't Even Get A T-Shirt!
Back in December, when a deal to get unemployment extended was in the works, many of us commented on the need for a debt ceiling hike to be included. It was not too difficult to foresee that the need for a raise in the debt ceiling would be used to force program cuts. But all we got for a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts and a mixing of general revenues into the Social Security Trust Fund was 13 months of extended unemployment benefits, along with a fear that Democrats would capitulate in the upcoming debt ceiling negotiations.
However, I certainly did not anticipate just how much the Republicans would demand in exchange for the authority to borrow money to pay for obligations already incurred.
So, get ready for a massive tax hike on the middle class, because that is what the shifting of the burden of social programs onto them amounts to. Gotta keep those tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires and large corporations. And that trillion plus in government spending which will now be paid by those who can least afford it? I guess they won't be spending it on goods and services. Say goodbye to more jobs.
Congratulations, Congress. Another victory for those who fund campaigns and who hire those high-priced lobbyists. I can just hear the laughter in the back rooms about poor Grandma Millie.
However, I certainly did not anticipate just how much the Republicans would demand in exchange for the authority to borrow money to pay for obligations already incurred.
So, get ready for a massive tax hike on the middle class, because that is what the shifting of the burden of social programs onto them amounts to. Gotta keep those tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires and large corporations. And that trillion plus in government spending which will now be paid by those who can least afford it? I guess they won't be spending it on goods and services. Say goodbye to more jobs.
Congratulations, Congress. Another victory for those who fund campaigns and who hire those high-priced lobbyists. I can just hear the laughter in the back rooms about poor Grandma Millie.
Massive Tax Hike On Middle Class
Republicans have been cutting income taxes, corporate taxes, taxes on capital gains and special dividend income (both now taxed at 15%), and estate taxes. Revenues as a percentage of GDP are the lowest in decades. Yet we are told over and over that we have a spending problem. Well, yes, if you repeatedly cut the means, then that does make it hard to live within your means.
Republicans are refusing to reverse any of their revenue cuts, crying "No new taxes!" even though what is desperately needed is restoration of some of the old taxes.
What they are proposing is massive cuts to programs which help the poor and vulnerable, the working class, and ordinary middle class citizens. In effect, they are proposing massive tax increases on middle class America. A dollar more in health care costs is the same to someone as a dollar increase in their taxes. And those cuts to programs are what Republicans are using as the price for keeping tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, and for keeping the huge tax deductions and subsidies for large corporations.
Republicans also refuse to fix the Medicare Prescription Drug program, which with its no negotiating clause is a big giveaway to pharmaceutical companies.
Both sides are looking at Social Security, even though changes to retirement ages and benefits will have zero impact on the national debt.
Oh, yeah, and wasn't there a jobs problem? Well, eliminating trillions in spending by the middle class should certainly help create jobs.
Republicans are refusing to reverse any of their revenue cuts, crying "No new taxes!" even though what is desperately needed is restoration of some of the old taxes.
What they are proposing is massive cuts to programs which help the poor and vulnerable, the working class, and ordinary middle class citizens. In effect, they are proposing massive tax increases on middle class America. A dollar more in health care costs is the same to someone as a dollar increase in their taxes. And those cuts to programs are what Republicans are using as the price for keeping tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, and for keeping the huge tax deductions and subsidies for large corporations.
Republicans also refuse to fix the Medicare Prescription Drug program, which with its no negotiating clause is a big giveaway to pharmaceutical companies.
Both sides are looking at Social Security, even though changes to retirement ages and benefits will have zero impact on the national debt.
Oh, yeah, and wasn't there a jobs problem? Well, eliminating trillions in spending by the middle class should certainly help create jobs.
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