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View Full Version : Democrats Propose Plan to Sidestep Anti-Tax Pledge



Cigar
07-18-2012, 11:50 AM
Senate Democrats — holding firm against extending tax cuts for the rich — are proposing a novel way to circumvent the Republican pledge not to vote for any tax increase: Allow all the tax cuts to expire Jan. 1, then vote on a tax cut for the middle class shortly thereafter.

The proposal illustrates the lengths lawmakers are going to in an effort to include new federal revenues in a fix for the “fiscal cliff,” the reckoning in January that would come when all Bush-era tax cuts expire and automatic spending cuts to military and domestic programs kick in.

Virtually every Republican in Congress has taken the pledge, pushed by Grover Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, never to vote for a tax increase — a pledge both parties see as a serious impediment to a tax compromise. But if tax rates snap back to the levels of the Clinton presidency on Jan. 1, any legislation to reinstate some of those tax cuts — but not all of them — would be considered a tax cut.

“Many Republicans are starting to realize something important: On Jan. 1, if we haven’t gotten to a deal, Grover Norquist and his pledge are no longer relevant to this conversation,” Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, said this week in a speech at the Brookings Institution. “We will have a new fiscal and political reality.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/us/politics/senate-democrats-propose-letting-all-tax-cuts-expire.html?pagewanted=all

“Democrats in Congress are now saying that they would rather see taxes go up on every American at the end of the year than let about a million businesses keep what they earn now,” Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, said Tuesday. “This isn’t an economic agenda. It’s an ideological crusade.”

bajisima
07-18-2012, 12:55 PM
I think though that most people will think if nothing is done come Nov. 6 then they might elect Republicans in because they will worry about having their taxes rise Jan. 1. The won't think maybe a new tax deal will be cut after the election because there won't be any trust, politicians lie, it is what they do and citizens are very fearful about losing any amount of money to a tax increase, this could backfire on the dems very badly.

Mainecoons
07-18-2012, 02:22 PM
Easy enough to fix this problem after the election with a retroactive bill passed by a new Congress and signed by a new POTUS.

Peter1469
07-18-2012, 03:57 PM
How are the Dems going to get the tax cut passed through the House? The Senate cannot initiate tax bills. Legally that is.

coolwalker
07-18-2012, 04:06 PM
The dems can block things anytime they wish but the GOP are criminals if they propose to do the same. More double standards I see.

Peter1469
07-18-2012, 06:06 PM
It is just their talking points. I doubt that many actually understand them.