The Bush tax cuts are tripping up the supercommittee

[ProSense]

The Bush tax cuts are tripping up the supercommittee

Posted by Ezra Klein

<...>

Nevertheless, what Steel is saying is simply false: Nothing in the Democrats’ proposal “locks in” any particular resolution to the Bush tax cuts. It simply leaves that question for another day. An annoyed Democratic aide points out that by the Republicans’ logic, anything that doesn’t extend the Bush tax cuts right now — the trigger, a nuclear bomb being dropped on Washington, a zombie attack that sends Congress into recess, anything — would count as an $800 billion tax increase.

But to be more generous to Steel, the underlying reality of the situation suggests that Democrats will win that fight -- if they want to. If Congress does nothing, the Bush tax cuts expire. All of them. Whatever you think of the economic merits of letting the Bush tax cuts expire for everybody, it would make voters very angry. And if the reason the cuts expired was that Republicans refused to extend $3 trillion in cuts for the middle class without extending $800 billion in cuts for the rich, voters will be very angry at Republicans. So the Democrats are in the driver’s seat here.

Which brings us back to the supercommittee. Republicans are trying to use it to resolve the Bush tax cuts now so they’re not left defending tax cuts for the rich later. That’s what happened in this exchange: The Democrats made a counteroffer to Toomey that involved pretty much matching his numbers but deleting his extension of the Bush tax cuts. Republicans rejected that offer, and House Speaker Boehner’s spokesman e-mailed reporters to call it “a step backwards because it would lock in the largest tax hike in history.”

If all Republicans cared about was reducing the deficit, it wouldn’t make much sense to use a deficit-reduction task force to add $3.7 trillion in tax cuts to the deficit. But neither party cares solely about the deficit. Republicans, for instance, care about tax rates and politics. So it makes perfect sense for them to try to sneak the tax cuts into a deal that will be framed as a deficit-reducing compromise between the two parties. But ultimately, that’s making a deal harder to come by, as Democrats would prefer to leave the resolution of the Bush tax cuts till later.

Leaving it for another day is the best thing. Do nothing and the tax cuts expire (and Republicans know that). To quote Steve Benen:

That’s just crazy. The Bush-era tax rates are due to expire at the end of next year; why in the world would Democrats give up their only leverage, in exchange for a few eliminated deductions?

Even more ridiculous: House readies vote on Balanced Budget Amend.

House Republicans don’t have time to address the jobs crisis, but they do have time for proposed constitutional amendments that would make the jobs crisis worse.

The lower chamber will vote today on a constitutional amendment to require balanced budgets — a proposal better known as one of the worst ideas in the history of bad ideas — the first time lawmakers have considered the measure since 1995. To move on to the Senate, the amendment will need 290 votes today, translating to roughly every Republican and about 50 House Democrats.

<...>

Republicans' bogus balanced budget amendment and the $15 trillion debt

The Republicans are spinning desperately to extend the Bush tax cuts for the rich, which would increase the debt. At the same time, they're working to pass a balanced budget amendment to address the deficit/debt they allowed to skyrocket under Bush. The only way they can achieve this is by pushing scams, knowing that they dread the defense cuts mandated by the trigger.

The way I see it, Republicans are full of shit and find themselves between a rock and a hard place. The only thing they can do now is lie and pretend, same as always.

[WI_DEM]

1. bottom line--aren't they supposed to expire again? just let them expire.

[sofa king]

6. That's what this whole dog and pony show is all about.

This all goes back to last December, when the President played all rope-a-dope with the tax cut extension, while lining up the issue so that it expires no matter what next January (President Obama even made sure to set it up so that he can pocket-veto any extension passed by the next Congress even if he loses--a nice touch).

The Democrats knew the Republicans would do anything, would try anything, to get those cuts extended, and they did. That's what the budget ceiling crisis was really about this summer: a Republican hostage-taking in hopes of getting their tax cuts extended.

And knowing that, the Dems again maneuvered the Republicans into accepting the President's deficit reduction plan unless they dealt honestly in the super-committee. Obviously, they can't, and demonstrating that while burning off time and keeping the tax cut issue simmering was the real purpose of that bullshit committee.

The Republicans are beyond desperate because 70% of Americans want to see those cuts expire. The cuts were extended, all right, but now it's going to be the campaign issue that reelects the President, flips the House, and makes a 60-seat supermajority in the Senate a real possibility in 2014. And once that happens, at least two bought Supreme Court justices will have to leave gracefully or face impeachment.

We snookered them into this little teapot tempest, knowing it couldn't succeed. Even if they do reach some sort of compromise in Congress, the President doesn't have to compromise at all. If he doesn't get what he wants, he'll simply veto their crap and... get what he wants, because his own plan is the "trigger" that gets pulled if no decision is reached.

All of this is the result of the President and Democrats in Congress treating the Republicans as what they are: dangerous criminals who are incapable of governing and too greedy and short-sighted to even look at a goddamned calendar. We kept the tax cut issue fresh so that we can slam them with it every fucking day next year. We burned millions of dollars in corporate lobbying funds, and ensured they got nothing for it. We've denied an unknown but certainly enormous amount of campaign funds to all Republican candidates from the defense industries, since by failing to deal honestly the Republicans have ripped half a trillion dollars out of the defense budget over the next ten years. And we're gonna make every one of those bastards vote against reasonable ideas until their own constituencies toss them out in disgust.

And it cannot be stopped. Now it's just about time to come off the ropes, and knock those fuckers out.

[Johnny2X2X]

2. A Master

Obama is really winning me back. He's playing chess while the Republican bunglers are playing checkers. I still have my disappointments and was honestly considering withholding my vote from him, but now not only am I voting for him, I may be persuaded to donate and to work on his campaign.

Obama is doing the best he can and his is maneuvering the Republicans into a disaster for them in the 2012 elections. He's been smarter than them at every turn. A 2nd term with control of the house back possibly and Obama can really do a lot of good for the American people.

[indepat]

3. Is Ezra Klein referring to the Obama tax cuts as the Bush tax cuts which were soooo

last decade? :shrug: :patriot:

[great white snark]

4. No.

The Obama tax cuts, targeted for the 95%, were included in the stimulus package.

[high density]

5. We did "nothing" last year and the Bush tax cuts were renewed

Once again the Democrats are letting the GOP run out the clock, and then we'll be slammed with some piece of garbage "compromise" that leaves us in an even worse position than we were in before.

I don't know why we keep going down the same road over and over and expecting it to magically take us to a different destination one of these times.

[ProSense]

7. Do

"We did "nothing" last year and the Bush tax cuts were renewed...Once again the Democrats are letting the GOP run out the clock, and then we'll be slammed with some piece of garbage "compromise" that leaves us in an even worse position than we were in before."

...you understand the point?

No, last year they did something, which was to extend the tax cuts. Doing nothing is the route to allowing them to expire. Doing nothing is the exact opposite of the GOP position, which is the point of the OP.

Republicans do not want to "run out the clock."