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Bush just signed his tax bill boondoggle. If you own a corporation
or are mighty rich, you are likely quite happy he signed it.
We get to trumpet their incompetence and corruption all the time, not to mention
their bimbo eruptions. There's also the tax cuts for the wealthiest 1%, with
the essential corporate welfare on the side. But when you have the Republicans so
arrogant and out of control that they actually have the gall to raise middle
class taxes, then you've really got an issue that should be rammed down their
throats until they choke.
How weak and desperate do you have to be to sell out the middle class and the
poor on a bad war, tax cuts for the wealthy, as well as rip a college education
out of the hands of people who depend on tax breaks to get by?
Yesterday I participated in a blogger conference call with Senator Charles
Schumer, which ranged from Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont to the Republicans tax
hike. Matt Stoller had the goods on the Lieberman story earlier this month, which, quite
frankly, lays Harry
Reid out. Mike Stark captured the
audio on the part of the call yesterday that focused on Lieberman versus Lamont, with
Pach from firedoglake
having his own take.
However, for me, the most important part of the conversation was Schumer's
riff on the tax package that was just signed today by Bush. What it means to
middle class Americans, especially those families who have kids in college,
is nothing good. It also starkly divides what's important to the Democratic
Party, as opposed to what Republicans hold dear.
So far, my take on Schumer after two conference calls is that he's arrogant and dismissive of bloggers in general, but is willing to use any tool he can to get his message out. However, that he's talking to us means he gets our value, at least on one level. Obviously, he'd like the bigger blogs to pick up his points, but he's going to have to get off his high horse for that to happen, because they have serious power that he and other Democrats should respect because they've earned it. All you have to do is look at what firedoglake has accomplished. What Jane has done for Ned Lamont's campaign via the women's groups is nothing short of astounding. I still suggest you watch
the video of Schumer's speech on the Senate floor, which lays the Republicans
out flat.
Now about those tax cuts for big corporations and the rich, or as Bush
says, his real base. I emphasize “real,” because if the religious right meant half as much
to Bush and the Republicans as corporations and the top 1%, we'd have a gay
marriage ban, with abortions now strictly back alley.
The tax cut bill that Senate and House leaders have generally agreed upon
is expected to save Americans at the center of the income distribution an
average of $20 each, according to estimates by the Tax Policy Center, a nonprofit
research organization in Washington.
The top tenth of 1 percent, whose average income is $5.3 million, would save
an average of $82,415. Those in the top group would see their tax bill cut
4.8 percent, while Americans at the center of the income distribution — the
middle fifth of taxpayers, who will earn an average of $36,000 this year —
could expect a 0.4 percent reduction in their tax bill, or about $20.Those who make less than $75,000 — which includes about 75 percent of all
taxpayers — would save, at most, $110 each. Those making more than $1 million
would save, on average, almost $42,000.Analysis
of Tax Bill Finds More Benefits for the Rich (Times select)
If that doesn't convince you, here's more. The tax bill is split in two parts. As I see it, the second part contains what's important to middle class Americans,
but those provisions won't happen until later, with no guarantee they will
happen at all. First things first for Republicans: get those tax cuts out
to the top 1%. As for the middle class tax breaks due to expire, Republicans
and Bush say “trust me.” I don't. Besides, the second bill for the
middle class needs a “super majority,” or 60 votes to pass. The first
bill, which Bush just signed, had fast track status, meaning there could be
no filibuster, no stopping it. So, with Republicans controlling Congress, it's
anything but a slam dunk that the middle class will get any break at all.
The second bill will not benefit from the same fast-track procedures, and
will need 60 votes in the Senate.To encourage passage of the second bill, Grassley and Thomas loaded it with
retroactive extensions of the most popular tax breaks that expired at the
beginning of the year, including a research and development tax credit for
businesses, a deduction for certain college tuition payments, and benefits
for teachers who pay for classroom supplies themselves.Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, the top Democrat on Grassley's Finance Committee,
criticized that strategy.“Hard-working Americans who depend on these already expired provisions
are being told not to worry, there is another bill coming down the pike to
take care of them,” he said. But “a different tax vehicle has a
high likelihood of breaking down.”
There's a lot more where that came from, because editorial boards across the
country slammed the
Republicans' middle class tax hike.
But this is our president and the rubber stamp Republicans in action. Full steam
ahead for their fat cat base, leaving slim pickings for the poor and the middle
class. Only now, they've actually raised middle class taxes, especially if you
have a kid in college. They just don't get it.
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