Editorial: The New Resentment of the Poor

[cali]

In a decade of frenzied tax-cutting for the rich, the Republican Party just happened to lower tax rates for the poor, as well. Now several of the party’s most prominent presidential candidates and lawmakers want to correct that oversight and raise taxes on the poor and the working class, while protecting the rich, of course.

These Republican leaders, who think nothing of widening tax loopholes for corporations and multimillion-dollar estates, are offended by the idea that people making less than $40,000 might benefit from the progressive tax code. They are infuriated by the earned income tax credit (the pride of Ronald Reagan), which has become the biggest and most effective antipoverty program by giving working families thousands of dollars a year in tax refunds. They scoff at continuing President Obama’s payroll tax cut, which is tilted toward low- and middle-income workers and expires in December.

Until fairly recently, Republicans, at least, have been fairly consistent in their position that tax cuts should benefit everyone. Though the Bush tax cuts were primarily for the rich, they did lower rates for almost all taxpayers, providing a veneer of egalitarianism. Then the recession pushed down incomes severely, many below the minimum income tax level, and the stimulus act lowered that level further with new tax cuts. The number of families not paying income tax has risen from about 30 percent before the recession to about half, and, suddenly, Republicans have a new tool to stoke class resentment.

<snip>

The moral argument would have been obvious before this polarized year. Nearly 90 percent of the families that paid no income tax make less than $40,000, most much less. The real problem is that so many Americans are struggling on such a small income, not whether they pay taxes. The two tax credits lifted 7.2 million people out of poverty in 2009, including four million children. At a time when high-income households are paying their lowest share of federal taxes in decades, when corporations frequently avoid paying any tax, it is clear who should bear a larger burden and who should not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/31/opinion/the-new-resentment-of-the-poor.html

[cutlassmama]

1. class warfare. they want the poor to hurry up and die.

[dkf]

2. Only $700 billion of the $3.8 trillion of Bush cuts comes from income over $250,000

We need Clinton tax rates for all levels of income. Just taxing the top 2% at Clinton rates won't get us very far.

[daleanime]

3. But it would be a start....

add that to closing a few corporate loopholes, lifting the Social Security Tax Cap, and ending those oil wars and you would have made great progress.:banghead:

[dkf]

5. Why do you need a start when we are back to Clinton rates in 1 1/2 years?

The best we can do is raise it for one year. We don't like doing retroactive increases.

Clinton rates worked. We have already proved it.

[daleanime]

6. That's another 1 1/2 deeper in the hole....

and still would leave some fundamental problems unaddressed.

[rfranklin]

4. The quickest way to erase tax deficit would be to mandate a living wage for all...

No more scams that allow employers to pay people even less than the pitiful minimum wage. Raise the pay for everyone and collect taxes from everyone. Simple solution but it will never be implemented.