About those middle-class tax cuts...

[Jackpine Radical]

If the price of letting the cuts for the wealthy expire is to also let the cuts for the middle class die with them, then so be it.

I'm lucky enough to have earned income (and unlucky enough to still need to be working at 66). As a middle-class taxpayer, I'm a whole lot more interested in maintaining a safety net for the poor and disabled and unemployed than I am in saving a few shekels in April. Hell, I'd probably save money on the deal because if the government were doing its job of ensuring the welfare of the populace, I probably wouldn't feel so compelled to make donations to the desperate organizations who are trying to feed and clothe people in the absence of governmental assistance.

[dkf]

1. Yeah I'm beginning to think maybe we ought to go this way.

Preventing us from turning into Greece and Ireland is a good thing.

I used to be nervous about this and it's impact on the economy but the numbers are looking better now.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. I think we can get by with a very large deficit for a while--

especially provided we use the funds to build and modernize our infrastructure. Then it's more like an investment than a splurge. Letting the tax cuts die and getting us out of our military misadventures would just about solve the whole thing.

You might say those wars are Greece-ing the skids into bankruptcy.

[bluestateguy]

3. That would be a great idea, if the next election could be delayed about 10 years

If all the taxcuts expire (thereby raising taxes for all workers), all you are going to hear about in the news, day in and day out, is how Obama raised taxes on the middle class and working families. It will be non-stop Echo Chamber. The Republicans will drop their rhetoric about keeping taxes low for the rich, and instead howl about how Obama raised working families taxes in a recession, as that latter message will resonate much more with the voters. It pretty much guarantees a one term presidency and a Republican Congress--in both chambers--for the foreseeable future.

In addition, it will also have a bad effect on the economy if folks making $60,000 a year (who are not "rich", as much as the professional victimologists would like to say otherwise) suddenly see over a thousand of their dollars that would have been pumped into the economy, snatched away down into the black hole of the government coffers.

[dkf]

5. Then who is going to eventually raise taxes on the middle class?

Better to have it done now when both parties can be blamed.

[murray hill farm]

4. I so agree!

It is the best solution all around. Just let it all expire.

[CrispyQ]

6. I sported this bumper sticker during the Bush years:

Tax cuts don't matter when you don't have a job.

It's still applicable.