Now what is that old whore-monger Dick Morris babbling about now? Surrender? He should talk.
And what does President Obama have to say on the matter? According to MSNBC:
President Barack Obama announced the parameters of a tentative deal with Republicans on extending the Bush tax cuts, acknowledging that he still strongly opposes the extension of cuts for the very wealthy but saying that continuing a fight at the expense of the middle class would be “the wrong thing to do.”
“We have arrived at a framework for a bipartisan agreement,” the president said, after noting that it is “abundantly clear” that Republicans will block a permanent extension of tax cuts for the middle class without an extension for top earners as well.
“As much as the political wisdom may dictate fighting over solving problems, it would be the wrong thing to do,” to delay resolution until the next year, Obama said.
Some of the broad parameters of the deal, reported by NBC’s Chuck Todd, are:
— 2-year extension of ALL Bush-era tax rates
— 13-month extension of unemployment insurance
— 2 percentage point decrease in the payroll tax for one year.
The overall cost in lost revenue to the government is at least $450 billion in 2011 (or a tad higher than the yearly cost of the 2009 stimulus) and could climb as high as $600 billion depending on how much the economy grows over the next two years.
In the deal will be some extension of small business tax breaks as well and a “fix” to address inflation indexing of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) rates.
So how do we pay for it all? Do we borrow money from China to pay for the Republican tax cuts? I guess it is all a matter of priorities. What happened to the cuts in Social Security tax? I thought FICA was going to be reduced. Maybe just social security pay outs will be cut.
There is also more to come on the the estate tax. No mention of capital gains taxes.
Whatever deals he cut, President wasn’t going to leave the American people hanging.
So how do we pay for it all?
Stop spending so much. One does not pay for a tax cut. It is not the government’s money. Repeal Obamacare, repeal the stimulus bills, repeal the prescription drug plan, etc. Bring back spending to 2008 levels. We seemed to be doing pretty well with only a 300+ billion dollar deficit then…..
Oh, and Dick Morris is an asshat.
Interesting link
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/right-turn/2010/12/obama_sells_out_the_left_a_rep.html
Money paragraph seems to be:
To say that Republicans are triumphant would be an understatement. They won the philosophical point (tax hikes impede economic growth) and, candidly, are more than delighted to have a repeat of this debate for the presidential campaign in 2012. Ryan Ellis of Americans for Tax Reform, which strenuously pushed for extension of the Bush tax cuts, tells me,”If 2012 is a referendum on Obamacare and tax hikes, we win.” Well, there will be lots of other issues, and 2012 in political terms is a long way off. Still, I see his point.
I’ve had some discussions about this with a few friends but I’d like to hear the opinions of the professional left on here to see how they feel and are taking this compromise?
Cargo, technically perhaps, but not in reality….re whose money is it.
Marin, triumphant? not really. Obstructionist is more like it. Obama blinked first for the people of the country. I am not so sure that is a bad thing. Were the Republicans ready to let our taxes double? And that is how it will be spun, now and forever.
There is no professional left on this blog that I am aware of. Professional left! Show yourself!
The moderates will see all this as the Republicans willing to sell out the middle class for the country club rich.
Looks like both extreme sides are mad. The very left is mad at Obama for breaking a campaign pledge (not sure why…he’s broken every other one). The very right is mad about another 99 weeks of unemployment benefits. Seems to me like both sides gave up something here. Oh, and you don’t “pay” for something you don’t get. If I make up in my head that I should get a 30,000 dollar raise this year because I’m so damn sexy, and for some strange reason I don’t get that “sexy raise”, does that mean I now have to sidle into the nearest bank and demand a $30,000 loan to make up for my lack of a “sexy raise”?
Taking spending back to 2008 levels doesn’t do much for me. We were still involved in two wars and paying through the nose in 2008. I don’t think we need an army or air force base in every other country in the world. Our armed forces should be about protecting our nation (which we do not do adequately). There is so much waste in Government that we could easily take spending back to 1990s levels with very little problem.
The long and the short of the money is that it has to come from somewhere. We have to make that money up. It isn’t just a wash.
Obama promised you health care and you got it. Sounds like he kept that one.
He also said he wouldn’t raise taxes on the middle class. He didn’t. Gotta watch that spin, Slow.
The left is bring brutal on Mr. Obama’s compromise. “Yes We Cave”, “Obama Caves, the Rich Saves”, etc. Geez. The guy can’t catch a break.
The guy finally does something pretty smart (the fiscal conservative in me says the 13 months of unemployment and not pairing this with drastic spending cuts is not optimal) but the reality is a fix needed to happen now before the market took a dive with people selling now to beat the extra 5% success tax.
People in the office thought I was off my rocker when I told them that I was happy with Obama today. 🙂
@Marin,
That is probably moveon.org leading the pack there.
It is the far left. They are just as obnoxious in my mind as the far right. Both make me gag.
You’re right. Far left. My FB friends on the left are very, very mute on the subject. It’s as if someone kicked a puppy in front of them. The silence is very telling to be honest.
I’m still of mixed minds on this but overall I think it’s a good thing. It’s not everything I’d like to see but it’s a positive move in the right direction.
People at work think I’m bat-sh*t crazy today because I’m saying the man’s name in praise and not with my usual disdain. I think I’d even drink a beer with him. Today’s a good day. 🙂
I think he did the only thing he could do and he did it swiftly and without posturing or playing political reindeer games.
Probably we all wish there were some different components to the deal. But there aren’t. To me, this is what separates a stateman from a politician.
One step at a time. I’ll take half a loaf.
The optics on this are really good for Obama. He comes off as the adult in the room taming a bunch of squabbling children (congress). Plus, republicans no longer own the tax issue – it’s now his agenda as well.
Cato, agreed. This could signal a Clintonian triangulation.
“Cargo, technically perhaps, but not in reality….re whose money is it.”
In reality all money is the citizens. The government, unless it prints money or borrows it, gets all income from the taxpayer.
Soooo….I don’t understand your statement.
@Cargo, possession is 9/10ths of the law.
You are arguing an abstract concept that really doesn’t translate to a real world situation.
Try breaking it down. Try witholding from something you don’t approve of. It didnt work when our country was new and it won’t work now.
So, you’re agreeing with me that the income tax and withholding is immoral? Yay!
Its still our money, no matter what Congress thinks. Its also our fault that we have forgotten that we, the people, have the power to change what Congress does. Hopefully, we will wake up soon.
No. I don’t agree that income tax and witholding is immoral. It is a necessary part of living in a civilization.
Why is it necessary? Why can’t we have the citizens pay their taxes at the due date? Why not get rid of the income tax and all of the intrusiveness that entails? The income tax gives unprecedented power to the government.
How about a sales tax? Tariffs? Having the government get paid last, instead of first, would force Congress to realize that they don’t own the money.
What difference does it make? There is a county to run.
I would make everyone other than the poor pay a little, if nothing else, just for symbolic purposes. I would also take the tax off of unemployment money. That is just plain stupid.
None of us have a line item veto over what our taxes go for.
Because we don’t have the line item veto, then we must reduce the scope of government and bring it back to the ideals of limited government. We have the blueprints for what the government is SUPPOSED to be doing.
I think this tax cut virtually assures Obama’s reelection. When the economy picks up, the media will point to the vision and foresight of Obama in going against his liberal base to forge this tax cut. It will be mostly forgotten that this was forced on him by the Republicans.
Cargo, when did we last have limited government? Before the Civil War would be my guess.
Kelly, he could have held his ground and let the Republicans take the fall for the tax hikes and for not extending unemployment checks. How would THAT have gone over?
The Republicans would have had some tall explaining to do. Those of us who are not driven by partisanship prefer how he did it. But a strong segment of his base sure doesn’t agree with me.
As for your prediction…not sure. Too soon to call it I think. But I think he did the right thing.
I think it was a little odd to reduce the SSN payroll deduction, but overall I agree with you. It was the right thing to reduce taxes. At some point, unemployment benefits have to be cut. We cannot pay people not to work forever.
I came across an interesting statistic — the employment rate for college graduates is only 5%. I had no idea that the difference in the unemployment rate between college graduates and non-graduates was so large.
This suggests that a condition for continued unemployment benefits ought to be professional training or college.
@Kelly, That was interesting. I had no idea either. I wonder if that is even correct?
I don’t know what happens to the unemployment situation either but we can’t have families on the street or living in the woods. I understand though that there are people taking advantage of the situation. Not sure how accurate that is.
I don’t understand how FICA can be cut back. I wasn’t even sure it was.
dick morris as usual provides excellent analysis. but instead of hirohito signing surrender, a more apt analogy would be the nazis’ defeat in the battle of stalingrad. after two years of screwing america, obama finally had to blink, but the war is far from over, and its outcome still most uncertain
“Dick” Morris should confine his analysis to his area of expertise … sucking hooker toes.
@Moe,
Too funny. Hooker toes and giving away state secrets.