'Game of chicken' coming in Congress over Bush tax cuts

[babylonsister]

* Posted on Wednesday, August 11, 2010

'Game of chicken' coming in Congress over Bush tax cuts

By David Lightman and Margaret Talev | McClatchy Newspapers


WASHINGTON — Congressional incumbents, already nervous about increasingly unpredictable November elections, are facing a potentially make-or-break political decision: Whether to vote on extending expiring Bush era tax cuts before the election.

The White House and many congressional leaders want to extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for everyone but the wealthy; they'd let tax rates on the rich rise back to 1990s levels. Republicans, and moderate Democrats, want to extend the tax cuts for the wealthy, and may balk at anything short of that.

Top Democrats want to debate that when Congress returns from its summer recess in mid-September.

"If they (Republicans) want to block a tax cut for 98 percent of the American people in order to preserve a $700 billion tax cut for the wealthiest 2 percent, I'd say 'Let's have that fight.' I can't believe at the end of the day that they would do that," said White House senior adviser David Axelrod in an interview with McClatchy.

They would, said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.

"We look forward to the debate over the appropriateness of raising taxes in the middle of a recession, between now and the election," he said.

more..

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/08/11/99038/game-of-chicken-coming-in-congress.html

[JoePhilly]

1. We should win this one ....

Either the GOP will cave and we'll keep the tax cuts for the 98%, or all of the cuts will expire when the party of NO blocks any agreement.

[babylonsister]

2. We should, but some Dems really worry me. Nelson for starters. nt

[rasputin1952]

4. Ack...he's one of my Senators...

I'm ashamed to say I worked like a dog to get him re-elected...I can't wait for him to come around this Summer...x(

[JoePhilly]

7. My condolences ...

I'm in NC, we got rid of Liddy Dole in 2008, and I'm hoping we can kick Burr to the curb this time around.

[democrat_patriot]

3. It's Bush Tax Cuts For The Rich" Not Bush Tax Cuts"

Big,big,big difference.

Repubs are just going to scream TAXES GOING UP!!! (for the rich).

[rasputin1952]

5. That's the message we should be pounding home...

no one I know, (and I know a LOT of people), would benefit from this; they are way above my pay scale. Every time some idiot brings up the "death tax" I ask how they could benefit from this, they're dead, and few people have that kind of wealth where they could even think about such a thing.

[mstinamotorcity]

6. The problem is

how they keep framing the conversation of the Bush Tax Cuts. The Administration should have been out in front of this one like a mack truck. The repugs are framing the Bush Tax Cuts as raising taxes. When its only allowing the temporary tax break to sunset or expire and go back to the percentage it was before we had a deficit. And to make sure they lean on the fact that giving the top two percent this tax break contributed to the deficit.And remind them over and over how much money was made and lost.Trillions of dollars to the top two percent and twenty four percent of America's wealth gone,vanished,kaput.

[wiggs]

11. Exactly. Should be easy for dems to frame this one. But you can bet the gop and

pundits will be lying, smearing, exaggerating and generally inflamming their base with propaganda. It has happened countless times that dems have the issue nailed on the merits but the campaign of misinformation, fear, and hate wins the day. Confusion is easy, truth is harder and usually nuanced. Low road is easy and the gop has taken it since Rove arrived on the scene in Texas. Thankfully, but sometimes frustratingly, dems have not gone low.

[AtomicKitten]

8. That's a fight the Dems are chomping at the bit to have. nt

[ieoeja]

9. Lets use the Conservative frame: "revenue neutral".

The tax holiday proved not to be revenue neutral. To the contrary, it caused the deficit to explode. So in the spirit of keeping things revenue neutral, we should let the entire tax holiday expire.

Or, keep part of it so people keep more of their money to infuse into the economy. And to keep that revenue neutral, raise taxes elsewhere. Obviously, we can not raise taxes on the bottom 95% to counter a tax cut on the top 5%. But the top 5% can easily absorb tax cuts for the bottom 95%. And since they own most income sources in the United States, they will end up getting most of that tax cut as income anyway.

So we should propose two options:

1. let the entire tax holiday expire as scheduled, or
2. make permanent tax cuts for 95% offset by a tax increase on 5%.

And to prove to the American public how bipartisan we are, we should promise to let the Republican minority decide if we should cut taxes in a revenue neutral manner that does not futher increase the deficit, or not cut taxes at all.

[Arkana]

10. Then FUCKING MAKE THEM FIGHT IT.