Alas, Afghanistan is a quagmire. Read my Grassroots column.
Today’s installment of Political World on South Brunswick Patch focuses on the social safety net and the need to help our neighbors.
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.
My new column on South Brunswick Patch — Political World — talks briefly about unemployment benefits, or the soon-to-be lack thereof.
Fact (as David Sirota points out): The Bush tax cuts will expire at the end of the year if Congress does nothing.
Fact: The tax cuts cost the U.S. Treasury about $370 billion a year total, with the portion of the tax cuts for those making more than $250,000 a year costing $70 billion a year.
The impact of the cuts is nothing to sneeze at, but mostly for those at the upper ends of the income ladder. For nearly 80 percent of workers, the impact will be relatively small (only a couple of cents on the dollar), especially when compared with the brutal service cuts and tax hikes that will be needed down the road to pay for this unnecessary giveaway. For the rich, well, they make out like bandits.
And yet, the Democrats and the White House insist on finding things to give to the Republicans without getting anything in return. Ridiculous.
