Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The truth about the Bush Tax Cuts

Let's talk about the Bush tax cuts.  As part of reconciliation back in 2003 Bush got his tax cut proposal through Congress.  Taxes were cut across the board.  The tax cuts were set to expire at some point, and that date has been expanded to January 2013.

Democrats over the past several years have championed the idea that if a republican Congress agrees on a deal, the tax cuts will be expanded, and you will, in essence, get a tax cut.  They have said that if Congress agrees to a deal to expand the deadline, you will get a tax cut.  They are in essence calling it the Obama tax cut.

Yet it's a fallacy.  There will be no tax cut if Congress agrees to a deal.  What really will happen is your taxes will stay the same.  The tax cuts went into effect in 2003, an extension will mean your taxes stay the same.  If there is no extension, your taxes will go up.  That, in essence, will be an Obama tax hike.

Although democrats are spinning it so that if the "current tax rate" is not expanded by vote of Congress, then it's the republicans fault because they control Congress.  Yet that's not true.  The truth is it will be both republican and democrats fault, because they didn't come to a compromise.

Yet we must also realize compromise to republicans and democrats are two different things.  Republicans definition of compromise means we meet in the middle.  Democrats definition means republicans cave and do it our way.  And that's exactly what republicans are expected to do.

There you go.  That's the situation in Washington today.

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