Recd e-mail from RW friend, help me debunk DU (if appropriate)

[OKDem08]

2011 Taxes



In just six months, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will
take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great
waves on January 1, 2011:

First Wave: Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief

In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors,
small business owners, and families.

These will all expire on January 1, 2011:

Personal income tax rates will rise. The top income tax rate will rise from
35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small
business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15
percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and
personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical
effect as higher marginal tax rates. The full list of marginal rate hikes
is below:

- The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15%
- The 25% bracket rises to 28%
- The 28% bracket rises to 31%
- The 33% bracket rises to 36%
- The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%

Higher taxes on marriage and family. The "marriage penalty" (narrower tax
brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of
income. The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per
child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples
relative to the single level. The dependent care and adoption tax credits
will be cut.

[Submariner]

1. A simple "You're a fucking idiot should suffice"

[47of74]

6. I am so totally keeping a copy for my own use...

Though I may have to make a modified copy for the more family friendly sites I visit.

[rfranklin]

2. The taxes were instituted with the understanding that they would expire...

They were supposed to create jobs and make the economy thrive. The premise was faulty and the experiment a failure with a resulting unsustainable deficit. So, let's return to the rates as they were under the Great Prevaricator, Ronald Reagan, and everyone STFU!

[no_hypocrisy]

8. I'm more cynical than you. I think they were created in the guise of being temporary but

with the goal of permanency. If a republican were in office, s/he'd extend the tax cuts and if a democrat were in office, s/he'd be accused of "raising taxes" (as opposed to letting the cuts timely and passively expire). The democrats in the House and the Senate, facing re-elections in the mid-term, would be pressured to extend those cuts. All this was considered and not even well disguised.

The promise of the creation of jobs was to get the dems on board for the original legislation; after all, who can argue against that goal?

[rfranklin]

17. Oh, you're absolutely correct, but...

if we go with the original fig leaf it confuses them.

[47of74]

3. Tell him to try using the google for once in his life and...

...doing some G-D research instead of parroting talking points from Faux and hate radio.

[tridim]

4. Your RW friend is a liar, no surprise there.

[Warpy]

5. Easy

It's not a tax hike, it's exactly where the taxes were when Stupid decided to bankrupt us in 2001.

It will happen only if Congress decides to fight the president on his plan to keep all but the return to a top rate of 39.6% on the top wage earners, those making over $250,000/year.

If your taxes go back up next year, in other words, thank a Republican.

[liberal N proud]

7. They are NOT tax hikes!

bu$h tax give aways to the rich are expiring.

Only 1% of tax payers are effected.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. One liner: And add another $3.4 trillion to the national debt.

[denverbill]

10. Yes, the Republican congress and President passed this law. It's THEIR tax increase.

Assuming it can even be called a tax increase.

I mean, if I cut your salary in half for 2 years, then restore it, did I give you a salary increase?

After all, it was just a temporary tax cut. If they had meant it to be permanent, why didn't they make it permanent?

[Touchdown]

11. Repeat after me. "If it's in an e-mail, it's a lie!"

Now go forth and spread the word, My son!

[Ozymanithrax]

12. Republicans conceived of this Tax Hike...and wrote it into the original tax cut.

They passed this tax hike when they created a tax, under Bush, for a limited time so that they could claim it was budget neutral.
How dare those Republicans who voted for this bill that raises taxes, and signed this bill into law, that was created to raise taxes after it expired.

Damn Republican Tax Hikers.

[mikeysnot]

15. I think it It was passed through reconciliation

So it expires in ten years. They needed 60 votes to make it permanent. It passed with 58 votes, I believe...

[Ozymanithrax]

20. Reconciliation also requires it to be deficit neutral.

They jiggered the original bill to pretend it was deficit neutral and got away with it because it only lasted ten years.

However, because Republicans wrote a time limit into the bill that cut taxes, they also voted to raise those taxes in ten years. Damn those stinking, tax raising, Republicans to hell...to hell I tell you.

Of course, the real answer to the email is, Republicans chose to borrow massive amounts of money and pass it out to Americans disguised as a tax cuts. We can no longer live on Republican Credit Cards.

[EstimatedProphet]

13. Tell your rightwing friend to fuck off, then de-friend them

Problem solved.

[KansDem]

14. My take: "If the Bush tax cuts are so good for the country, then why were they made to expire?"

:shrug:

[JuniperLea]

16. If the Bush tax breaks were so good for the country...

Why has the hand basket to hell we're all in turned to ash?

If it was good for the country, why are we in such a mess right now? They didn't work for St. Ronnie, and they didn't work for W. We need to stop furthering failed policy.

[Liberal In Texas]

18. This is a variation of a RW email going around before the election.

Debunked by Snopes here:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/taxes.asp

[LiberalAndProud]

19. Too easy.

http://taxes.about.com/od/2009taxes/a/obama_tax_proposals_2.htm

Making Work Pay Tax Credit
Currently Americans workers are eligible for a refundable $400 tax credit for 2009 and 2010. The full credit is available for unmarried filers with income of $75,000 or less, and for married filers with income of $150,000 or less. Obama proposes to make this tax credit permanent.

Earned Income Tax Credit
The EIC was changed for 2009 and 2010 to provide a higher tax credit for families with three or more children, and the credit is made available over a wider range of income levels. In 2008 and earlier, the earned income credit maxed out at two children and had narrower income ranges for married filers compared to unmarried filers. President Obama proposes to make these changes permanent.

Child Tax Credit
For 2009 and 2010, the child tax credit may be partially refundable (meaning that taxpayers could, potentially, receive a tax refund higher than the amount they paid in) based on a threshold amount of 15% of earned income in excess of $3,000. This $3,000 threshold will revert back to a threshold of $12,700 (indexed for inflation) in 2011. Obama proposes to make the $3,000 threshold permanent, and the amount would not be indexed for inflation. The Greenbook comments that if the law is allowed to revert to the higher threshold amount, as many as "11 million low-income families would have a tax increase as a result."


etc., etc., etc.


It wouldn't be polite to call your friend a liar, would it?