Obama Tax Cut Deal Is a Bad Bargain

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at this time it matters not who was for or against the wars,their a large part of the debt .as to your claim about the clinton recession that statement is false.as i said clinton left with the government in surplus,try as you may you can not change that,it,s time that you,and other own up to the fact that george bush was fiscal illiterate.

bruce b of NV 1:10AM December 20, 2010

Previous not last...

Bill Hedges of MO 10:56PM December 19, 2010

As JFK said best way to pay for war is cut rich tax rates. Thereby adding revenue to government to pay for war..
Democrats for the war in Iraq who now say they were against:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/wmdquotes.asp
CBO said 4.06 % increase in revenue because of Bush tax cuts.
Of course Clinton’s recession stopped growth when it burst. As I discussed in last article.

Bill Hedges of MO 10:52PM December 19, 2010

hey bill thats always missing in your reply on taxes,and the budget,is the cost of the TWO wars that are off budget.just because their off budget does not mean that they donn;t have to be paid for.as for your postulating on the current tax rates,they have been in place since 2002 and we have seen nothing but sub-par job growth and the economy in a downward spiral.it would seem,to most reasonable people anyway,that this experiment has been a failure.perhaps you could explain how when pres. clinton raised tax rates the economy flourished under those conditions.that is an undisputed fact that some people chose to ignore.

bruce b of NV 10:25PM December 19, 2010

Why...EXACTLY is it "fair" to tax the so-called rich at a higher rate than the so-called poor?
Penalize the sucessful that actually provide JOBS while giving back money to those who refuse to better themselves by getting an education and providing for themselves.
It's INSANE!
I can almost agree that if you're under a certain income level that you should not pay taxes BUT...to give OUR money to them on top of not contributing AT ALL is crazy!
The USA cannot afford this ANYMORE!
I live in that wonderful 'purgatory" where you make too much to get any breaks but you're still living week to week and expected to pay your FULL-SHARE to the OVER-SPENDING Federal Gov'Ment 'cause they know better than you how to spend YOUR $$$.

Chris Petty of GA 10:21PM December 19, 2010

It is historical proven tax cuts for wealthy increase government revenue. Not so for the working class tax cuts.
CBO said Bush tax cuts to rich increased their tax burden, increasing revenue to government by 4.06 %. John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan tax, and Clinton/Newt cuts increased government revenue.
States have tried to soak the rich with BAD RESULTS.
Why doesn’t bruce show where raising taxes on rich increase revenue for government ???
“Millionaires Go Missing”
“Maryland's fleeced taxpayers fight back”
“Maryland couldn't balance its budget last year, so the state tried to close the shortfall by fleecing the wealthy. Politicians in Annapolis created a millionaire tax bracket, raising the top marginal income-tax rate to 6.25%. And because cities such as Baltimore and Bethesda also impose income taxes, the state-local tax rate can go as high as 9.45%. Governor Martin O'Malley, a dedicated class warrior, declared that these richest 0.3% of filers were "willing and able to pay their fair share." The Baltimore Sun predicted the rich would "grin and bear it."
“One year later, nobody's grinning. One-third of the millionaires have disappeared from Maryland tax rolls. In 2008 roughly 3,000 million-dollar income tax returns were filed by the end of April. This year there were 2,000, which the state comptroller's office concedes is a "substantial decline." On those missing returns, the government collects 6.25% of nothing. Instead of the state coffers gaining the extra $106 million the politicians predicted, millionaires paid $100 million less in taxes than they did last year -- even at higher rates.
No doubt”
http://www.taxcutsincreaserevenue.com/Go-To-9823-0314-8302/Tax%20Increases%20Cut%20Revenue.htm
“The Soak-the-Rich Catch-22”
“Since 1978, the U.S. has cut the highest marginal earned-income tax rate to 35% from 50%, the highest capital gains tax rate to 15% from about 50%, and the highest dividend tax rate to 15% from 70%. President Clinton cut the highest marginal tax rate on long-term capital gains from the sale of owner-occupied homes to 0% for almost all home owners. We’ve also cut just about every other income tax rate as well.”
“During this era of ubiquitous tax cuts, income tax receipts from the top 1% of income earners rose to 3.3% of GDP in 2007 (the latest year for which we have data) from 1.5% of GDP in 1978. Income tax receipts from the bottom 95% of income earners fell to 3.2% of GDP from 5.4% of GDP over the same time period. (See the nearby chart).”
http://cliftonchadwick.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/the-soak-the-rich-catch-22/

Bill Hedges of MO 9:18PM December 19, 2010

susan another good column, from reading some of these posts it almost brings tears to my eyes.to think that if the tax rates had gone up for the upper 2% of the income earner,s the hardship that it would have caused them.why it seems that they would have needed their own salvation army kettle , right next to the classic red one,why to asked these people to get by with a little less is,well just un-american.

bruce b of NV 8:52PM December 19, 2010

to be giving tax cuts to people in the upper income brackets,who donn;t need them, is both wreckless and iresponsible.to make matters worse the insidious republicans useing the unemployed as pawns in this situation makes them little better than common hostage takers.all that this action does is push the problem on down the road,and to be refought before the 2012 elections.it would seem that since were engaged in two wars,off budget,that the tax cuts that went to the upper brackets could have been used to help offset the cost of these military actions,this would have been the right thing to do.now when the new congress takes over next year this will be used as reason,by some,to stand up,beat their chests and talk about how we need to cut spending,this is code for going after the less fotunate in our society,namely the people on social security,medicare and medicaid,this is their m/o.for told is for warned.

bruce b of NV 8:23PM December 19, 2010

W R O N G. Rich pay more when given tax cuts.
Spending more than coming in causes deficits. The Kennedy, Reagan, Clinton/Newt, and G.W. Bush tax cut all increased government revenue.
You mention Kennedy and Bush tax cuts so will address:
Kennedy tax cuts
“President Hoover dramatically increased tax rates in the 1930s and President Roosevelt compounded the damage by pushing marginal tax rates to more than 90 percent. Recognizing that high tax rates were hindering the economy, President Kennedy proposed across-the-board tax rate reductions that reduced the top tax rate from more than 90 percent down to 70 percent. What happened? Tax revenues climbed from $94 billion in 1961 to $153 billion in 1968, an increase of 62 percent (33 percent after adjusting for inflation).”
“Just as happened in the 1920s, the share of the income tax burden borne by the rich increased following the tax cuts. Tax collections from those making over $50,000 per year climbed by 57 percent between 1963 and 1966, while tax collections from those earning below $50,000 rose 11 percent. As a result, the rich saw their portion of the income tax burden climb from 11.6 percent to 15.1 percent.”
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2003/08/the-historical-lessons-of-lower-tax-rates
“According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the Bush tax cuts actually shifted the total tax burden farther toward the rich so that in 2000-2004, total income tax paid by the top 40% of income-earners grew by 4.6% to 99.1% of the total.”
http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/03/lying_about_bushs_tax_cuts.html

Bill Hedges of MO 7:21PM December 17, 2010

This move brings America one step closer to sovereign bankruptcy in the name of short-term, unsustainable tax relief for some Americans. Americans need to hold their President, Congress and Senate responsible for creating an untenable situation with debt and deficit. With the deficit for the first 2 months of fiscal 2011 already larger than the entire annual GDP of all but the largest 30 economies in the world, it is just a matter of time before the ratings agencies and bond traders revolt and determine that the United States is no longer creditworthy.
Here is an examination of just how large the deficit is for the first 2 months of this year:
http://viableopposition.blogspot.com/2010/12/united-states-deficit-is-us-too-big-to.html
God help us all.

Steve Thompson of ME 6:11PM December 17, 2010