An Often Procrastinating Congress Is Raring at the Gate on Tax Cuts
Source: NY Times
It is a maxim in Congress these days: If high-profile legislation affecting millions of Americans is about to expire, deal with it at the last possible second, preferably with rancor.
But a major exception is in the offing with the Bush-era tax cuts, which are set to lapse on Jan 1. Both parties in the House and the Senate are eager, perhaps even giddy, at the prospect of voting for their respective versions of an extension of the cuts this summer, well before the due date.
Speaker John A. Boehner, Republican of Ohio, has said there will be a House vote to extend the entire package before the November election. We shouldnt wait until New Years Eve, he said in a speech at a recent fiscal conference, to give American job creators the confidence that they arent going to get hit with a tax hike on New Years Day. Democrats are trying to up the ante. On Wednesday, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader, called on the speaker to schedule a vote right away.
Democrats believe that tax cuts for those earning over a million dollars a year should expire and that we should use the resulting revenues to pay down the deficit, she said. Senate Democrats are trying to cobble together a measure that would extend the tax cuts for the middle class but drop them for higher earners. Democrats hope the bill will reach the Senate floor this summer.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/25/us/politics/congress-ready-to-get-started-on-bush-tax-cuts.html
cstanleytech
(26,293 posts)But not just a yes or no vote on cut taxes but rather 2 votes.
One for middle income tax cuts and one vote regarding taxes for higher incomes (those who earn 1 million or more per year).
What say you Sen. Boehner?
msongs
(67,413 posts)dotymed
(5,610 posts)file our income taxes online, etc. Yet we are unable to vote for anything online?
Polling stations, libraries, wherever could accommodate those without computers.
n2doc
(47,953 posts)Anything that affects Congress (or their sponsors) is dealt with swiftly. The rest of us get games.
Jim Lane
(11,175 posts)n2doc
(47,953 posts)But people don't like the 'W' word so I avoid it.
CrispyQ
(36,470 posts)Seriously? From the NY Times no less.
rtracey
(2,062 posts)Boehner said We shouldnt wait until New Years Eve, he said in a speech at a recent fiscal conference, to give American job creators the confidence that they arent going to get hit with a tax hike on New Years Day. Democrats are trying to up the ante.
The rich may own the business, but the true job creators are the middle class workers. Think about it this way. What would happen if the working class, middle class workers didn't buy the products. The warehouses would stay full, the workers would be layed off, or fired completely, and the rich owners would not make money from their products. When the middle class is spurred on to buy, then the warehouses become empty, and the companies need to hire workers to fill them. So long story short MIDDLE CLASS WORKERS ARE THE JOB CREATORS.
Give the tax cuts to the Middle Class