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Henry Blodget of Business Insider: DON'T BE FOOLED: The Republicans Are Winning
Business Insider ^ | 01/02/2013 | Henry Blodget

Posted on 01/02/2013 8:46:43 AM PST by SeekAndFind

To listen to all the moaning out of the House of Representatives yesterday, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Republicans are losing the fiscal battle in Washington.

Actually, they're winning.

To see this, you just need to step back and look at the tax deal and the country's fiscal trends from a broader perspective.

Yesterday, the American government voted to extend almost all of the Bush Tax Cuts permanently.

Not temporarily, as a stimulus measure.

Permanently.

Ever since the Bush Tax Cuts were first enacted in 2001--temporarily, as a stimulus measure--one goal of the Republican party has been to "make the Bush Tax Cuts permanent."

For most of the last decade, this goal has seemed like an extremist view: Making the Bush Tax Cuts permanent would drastically reduce the federal government's revenue. It would also increase inequality and balloon the national debt and deficit--so how could we possibly justify doing that?

And yet now, suddenly, almost all of the Bush Tax Cuts are permanent.

The Republicans also got a good deal for the investor and owner class, making the Bush dividend tax cut permanent. This saves a lot of money in tax bills for America's wealthier investors.

And the Republicans also socked it to the working class, something that often seems to be an unstated goal of the party. How?

By not extending the payroll tax cut.

This payroll tax cut put up to an extra $2,000 a year in the pockets of everyone who works. The payroll tax hits everyone who earns wages, including the richest Americans, but it's a highly "regressive" tax: It takes a much bigger percentage of the income of those who earn less than $110,000 a year than it does from the richest Americans.

(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government; Politics; Society
KEYWORDS: blodget; budget; businessinsider; debt; fiscalcliff; republicans; zerohedge
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1 posted on 01/02/2013 8:46:50 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

IS THIS HOW THE TYPICAL LIBERAL MIND THINKS ABOUT THE DEBT CEILING?

EXCERPT:

The next government fight will be about the debt ceiling, and the Republicans are already mobilizing to hold the country hostage and demand entitlement cuts in exchange for not forcing the U.S. to default. And it seems reasonable to assume that, no matter how crazy and irresponsible this behavior is, the Republicans will probably extort some spending-cut concessions in exchange for agreeing to allow the United States Of America to honor its commitments.

So, it’s likely that we’ll get some entitlement spending cuts before long.

And then there’s the big picture, which is also important. The Republicans are winning there, too.


2 posted on 01/02/2013 8:48:17 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
the Republicans also socked it to the working class, something that often seems to be an unstated goal of the party

Schmuck.

3 posted on 01/02/2013 8:49:25 AM PST by grobdriver
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To: SeekAndFind

Everyone is about to watch their country sink. People like this live in a world of their mind.


4 posted on 01/02/2013 8:49:57 AM PST by bmwcyle (We have gone over the cliff and we are about to hit the bottom)
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To: SeekAndFind

Looks like with all of Hussein’s victories against America, his handlers and Big Media are concerned that the leftist freaks will lose some of their hatred.


5 posted on 01/02/2013 8:50:37 AM PST by treetopsandroofs (Had FDR been GOP, there would have been no World Wars, just "The Great War" and "Roosevelt's Wars".)
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To: SeekAndFind

There are no such things as permanent tax cuts. Future Congresses can do whatever they want. The only thing about the Obama tax cuts is that they will not sunset like the Bush tax cuts. If that is such a great victory, I can understand why the Reps are such poor negotiators.


6 posted on 01/02/2013 8:51:26 AM PST by kabar
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To: SeekAndFind
Right...and Romney won the election like so many Republicans and those here were sure he was going to do.

Republicans are very good at winning in their dreams but fall short in the real world every time....

7 posted on 01/02/2013 8:53:11 AM PST by montanajoe
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To: grobdriver

how dare the rich elitists expect the working class to put away 2% of their wages for retirement!

THE AUDACITY!


8 posted on 01/02/2013 8:53:30 AM PST by silverleaf (Age Takes a Toll: Please Have Exact Change)
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To: SeekAndFind

Apparantly, Obama’s “deal” wasn’t fair share enough for the leftist crowd.


9 posted on 01/02/2013 8:53:30 AM PST by TADSLOS (I took extra credit at the School of Hard Knocks)
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To: SeekAndFind

If this is “winning”, losing must REALLY suck.


10 posted on 01/02/2013 8:55:01 AM PST by muir_redwoods (Don't fire until you see the blue of their helmets)
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To: SeekAndFind

( Making the Bush Tax Cuts permanent would drastically reduce the federal government’s revenue. )
Actually it does not DRASTICALLY reduce the Federal Governments revenue, it just reduces it from that source.Its the Government. They will find a way to take more money from us. But the writer makes the tax cuts that sound like a bad thing. The “bad thing” is a Federal Government that is so bloated, so inept, so out of control in spending that NO AMOUNT OF TAXATION would ever be enough to feed it.........


11 posted on 01/02/2013 8:55:09 AM PST by SECURE AMERICA (Where can I sign up for the American Revolution 2013 and the Crusades 2013?)
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To: SeekAndFind

Please keep the writer of this screed away from sharp objects.


12 posted on 01/02/2013 8:56:24 AM PST by Da Coyote
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To: SeekAndFind
The goal of that plan is to continue to reduce federal government revenue to the point where the government simply has no choice but to cut spending, because deficits have just gotten too large and unsustainable to ignore.

the libtards will keep on spending and will just finance a larger deficit with more creation of money out of thin air and more borrowing from China.

13 posted on 01/02/2013 8:58:54 AM PST by mjp ((pro-{God, reality, reason, egoism, individualism, natural rights, limited government, capitalism}))
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To: SeekAndFind

[And the Republicans also socked it to the working class, something that often seems to be an unstated goal of the party. How? By not extending the payroll tax cut.]

The payroll tax partially funds Social Security, Medicare and Workers Comp. The cut couldn’t be made permanent without creating a new funding mechanism—like borrowing the money from another country.


14 posted on 01/02/2013 8:59:11 AM PST by Brad from Tennessee (A politician can't give you anything he hasn't first stolen from you.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Nonsense. It’s just that the democrats have found more effectives methods to redistribute wealth and socialize the economy than the tax code.

The tax battle just distracts us from the real crimes taking place.


15 posted on 01/02/2013 8:59:34 AM PST by DManA
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To: SeekAndFind

It’s good for you Yankee....You like, make you proud.

The author teaches at the Tokyo Rose school of propaganda.


16 posted on 01/02/2013 9:01:26 AM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
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To: SeekAndFind
And when it comes to the broader fiscal battle, the Republicans are winning: The federal government's tax revenues are at the lowest level as a percent of GDP in the past several decades.
"The Republicans, in other words, are well on their way to starving the beast.

Gee, I never realized congressional Republicans were that clever. And, I certainly didn't realize they were that skilled.

17 posted on 01/02/2013 9:01:34 AM PST by norton
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To: SeekAndFind

re: “And the Republicans also socked it to the working class, something that often seems to be an unstated goal of the party. How?

By not extending the payroll tax cut.”

Ok, this is a clear case of “Don’t believe your eyes, just believe what I’m telling you.”

The Dems have been wanting to get rid of the Bush Tax cuts since its inception. They wanted to raise tax rates on the wealthier Americans. They didn’t want to substantially reduce government spending (except in Defense).

Let’s see - Who won the election?? Wasn’t it the Dem/Communists by a wide margin? Who’s setting the agenda here?

They got 99% of what they wanted. How is that Republicans winning (not that they fought very hard)? It looked to me like a bloodbath against all Americans and our economy - a big win for the Progressives.

This article was obviously written for low-information voter consumption. Blame the coming collapse and pain that we are causing on the opponents.


18 posted on 01/02/2013 9:02:49 AM PST by rusty schucklefurd
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To: SeekAndFind
Henry needs to undo his cranal rectal inversion and ask....

How will our kids and grandkids compete with Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and the Czech Republic..

We need:

* A top to bottom review off all programs as to the validity of their existense prior to downsizing re-engineering all of them to get our expenses below our GDP.
* That means cutting Fedzilla from 25% of GDP to somewhere between 17 and 20%.
* That is a minium of a 30% cut.

That doesn't get into the fact we can't compete tax code wise. i.e. the Czech Republic with:

* A 15% Flat Tax
* A 19% Business Tax ( and I think 100% captial purchase deductions year one )
* 15% Cap Gains.
* and retirement and what I think is dividend income by another name at 5%.

19 posted on 01/02/2013 9:04:08 AM PST by taildragger (( Tighten the 5 point harness and brace for Impact Freepers, ya know it's coming..... ))
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To: muir_redwoods

20 posted on 01/02/2013 9:04:20 AM PST by Yosemitest (It's Simple ! Fight, ... or Die !)
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