Posted on 11/26/2012 7:28:53 AM PST by SeekAndFind
What should Republicans in Congress do right now about the "fiscal cliff"? Everyone has advice, almost none of which squares with reality. Republicans have only two levers of control: the House of Representatives and filibusters in the Senate. Consider the options.
Option 1: Do nothing.
If no new legislation gets passed we hit the so-called "fiscal cliff." That means all "Bush tax cuts" would expire, for rich and non-rich alike. It means other tax cuts and credits added under Obama (payroll tax cuts, child tax credits, etc.) would also expire. The Congressional Budget Office estimates all that at $4,532 billion over the next decade, or almost 11% of all projected federal revenue.
Then there is the spending side of the fiscal cliff, or sequestration. The CBO says sequestration amounts to $492B in military cuts and another $492B in non-defense cuts from the current baseline over the next decade. If these "cuts" are allowed to happen, federal spending would be $43,823B over the next decade. That means sequestration amounts to a 2.2% spending cut, or spending would go up only 55% instead of 58%.
But that's not all. We also have Obama's Medicare cuts, which mean paying doctors less while expecting the same level of care. That's another $245B over the next decade. Now if deficits are your one and only concern, and you actually believe the CBO's projections, the fiscal cliff looks like a good thing. In fact, "doing nothing" is what the CBO calls its "baseline." And deficits in the CBO's baseline are under 3% of GDP (a good thing) by 2014, and under 1% of GDP from 2016 on. Such deficits would be lovely, if true.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
“For 10 years the democrat party has blamed the Bush tax cuts and Bush government programs for the state of our economy. They have repeatedly claimed the Bush tax cuts benefitted the rich far more than any other Americans and in fact, have made the richer richer and the middle class poorer.
While we have disagreed and offered facts to prove otherwise and to warn of the grave damage we see in raising taxes on any American and business in a looming recession, the American people spoke when they elected Mr Obama.
Therefore we believe in the spirit of bipartisanship that it is time to give Mr Obama his choice of policies, with the democrats,to retire the entire Bush tax code effective January 1 2013.
Mr Obama proposes to raise revenue by increasing income taxes by $1.6 trillion. He proposes doing this to only half the American peoplw but we know and we believ Americna know that is not realistic nor does it allow all patriotic Americans to fully participate in the shared responsibilities of government.
Dropping the Bush Tax code in its entirety will give Mr obama that which he seeks, and what the American people voted for. We believe they deserve the opportunity to experience the policies of the man for whom they voted.
Now, may the democrat party go forward, as they have promised, with our full cooperation in their economic policies. God Bless America”
John Boehner, December 2012
No new code by Congress, not codified by the IRS means they can't do their Job from Jan 1 through April 15th, they have no lead time for re-programming of tax software or tax planning software and they are having a moral issue with giving advice.
That is not even bringing up the subject of no "patch" for the AMT for for this year or next. That may snag up to 33 million people.
Average tax increase? Projected to be $3,500 per family.
Wash you hands from it Boenher, let them have it all, let them own it....
His last two paragraphs are absolutely on target, IMO. Good read and good post - thanks!
LLS
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