Washington is broken. More specifically, the Obama administration is broken — terminally.
For those on the left who are still holding out hope that President Barack Obama harbors some hidden progressive streak, the news that he has agreed to give the Republicans what they wanted on tax cuts for the rich should end that illusion.
The deal, according to The New York Times, will allow the extension of all of the Bush tax cuts — including those for income above $250,000 for couples and $200,000 for individuals — and create an exemption to the federal estate tax of “$5 million per person and a maximum rate of 35 percent.”
The overall cost of the package is pegged at $900 billion over two years, “to be financed entirely by adding to the national debt, at a time when both parties are professing a desire to begin addressing long-term fiscal imbalances.”
True, the package also includes a payroll tax holiday — a 2 percentage point cut for a year, which would save workers paying the maximum — $6,621.60 on $106,800 in income — $2,136. That’s not chump change, but $40 a week is not exactly going to make or break the average family.
But that’s not all — imagine this being read in the voice of a late-night TV shill — if Democrats buy in now, they’ll win the following:
The deal would also continue a college-tuition tax credit for some families, expand the earned-income tax credit and allow businesses to write off the cost of certain equipment purchases. The top rate of 15 percent on capital gains and dividends would remain in place for two years, and the alternative minimum tax would be adjusted so that as many as 21 million households would not be hit by it.
In addition, the agreement provides for a 13-month extension of jobless aid for the long-term unemployed. Benefits have already started to run out for some people, and as many as seven million people would potentially lose assistance within the next year, officials said.
So, workers get 13 months of jobless help and some small trinkets in exchange for the massive give-a-way to the people who need it least.
And this is with a Democrat in the White House.
- Send me an e-mail.
- Read poetry at The Subterranean.
- Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. It can be ordered here.
- Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Hank Kalet 