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Next Big Battle: Tax Cuts
An epic fight is brewing over what
Congress and President Obama should do about the expiring Bush tax
cuts,
with such substantial economic and political consequences that it could
shape the fall elections and fiscal policy for years to come.
Democratic leaders, including Mr. Obama, say they are intent on letting
the tax cuts for the wealthy expire as scheduled
at the end of this year. But they have pledged to continue the lower
tax rates for individuals earning less than $200,000
and families earning less than $250,000 - what Democrats call the
middle class...
Negotiations are expected to start in the Senate, where it is hardest
for Democrats to advance legislation because of
Republican filibusters. But some Democrats say a fallback plan would be
to have their larger majority in the House approve
a continuation of the lower rates just for the middle class right
before the election, almost daring Republicans to oppose them.
In that case, Democrats say, Republicans who opposed the bill would be
blocking a tax cut for more than 95 percent of
Americans to defend tax cuts for a relatively few wealthy households.
Republicans are readying an arsenal of economic data
to portray the Democrats as endangering the precarious recovery and
harming small-business owners, some of whom are
taxed at the top personal income tax rates.
On Saturday, Representative Mike Pence of Indiana promised an all-out
push to extend the tax cuts for everyone the super-rich.
“House Republicans will oppose this tax increase with everything we’ve
got,” he said.
Will our side cave again?
Or will we continue to borrow money to give to the super-rich?