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2010-06-23 Home Front: Politix

Hoyer: Permanent middle class tax cuts too costly

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday that tax increases will eventually be necessary to address the nation's mounting debt, raising a difficult election-year issue as Democrats fight retain control of Congress.

In the shorter term, Hoyer raised the possibility that Congress will only temporarily extend middle-class tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year. He pointedly suggested that making them permanent would be too costly.

Tax cuts enacted under former President George W. Bush are scheduled to expire at the end of the year, affecting taxpayers at every income level. President Barack Obama proposes to permanently extend them for individuals making less than $200,000 a year and families making less than $250,000--at a cost of about $2.5 trillion over the next decade.

"As the House and Senate debate what to do with the expiring Bush tax cuts in the coming weeks, we need to have a serious discussion about their implications for our fiscal outlook, including whether we can afford to permanently extend them before we have a real plan for long-term deficit reduction," said Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat.

The tax cuts will be a big political issue in many congressional elections this fall, providing potential fodder for both political parties. Democratic leaders have yet to lay out a schedule for dealing with the tax cuts, but many rank-and-file Democrats want to extend them before the elections, so they can campaign on passing tax cuts for the middle class.

Republicans argue that many of the high earners who would face tax increases under Obama's plan are small business owners struggling to stay afloat in a tough economy.

Posted by Fred 2010-06-23 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11136 views ] Top

#1 I guess I'll be back to 32 hours by the fall.

Posted by badanov 2010-06-23 00:48|| http://www.freefirezone.org 2010-06-23 00:48|| Front Page Top

#2 Hoyer - how about the gov just spends less money on stupid stuff?

Posted by 3dc 2010-06-23 01:05|| 2010-06-23 01:05|| Front Page Top

#3 If they cut all the stupid stuff - Congress would be vacant.

Not a bad idea.

Posted by CrazyFool 2010-06-23 01:18|| 2010-06-23 01:18|| Front Page Top

#4 Yup, Can't allow the sheeple to keep any of OUR money, they'll spend it stupidly on food and clothing, Can't allow that, WE CONTROL WHERE IT GOES, NOT THE SHEEPLE.
(Sarc, as if the tag was needed)
But it's truth as well.
All money is theirs except the little we are allowed to use (Until they want it back)

Posted by Redneck Jim 2010-06-23 01:59|| 2010-06-23 01:59|| Front Page Top

#5 How much you wanna bet that the Legacy Media is gonna spin this as "Our boyfriend really really wanted to keep those tax cuts, but the greedy Rethuglicans in Congress wouldn't let him!" when someone points out his campaign pledge to people making under 200-250k?

(Yeah, I know the Repubs don't control Congress, and this putz isn't a Repub either, but the average Oblahblah/Dem voter isn't smart enough to realize that....)

Posted by Cornsilk Blondie 2010-06-23 07:19|| 2010-06-23 07:19|| Front Page Top

#6 Pull out a dollar bill, RJ (if you still have one): it says "United States of America" on it twice, but nowhere does it say "Redneck Jim." See - it IS their money, and not yours.
That said, the bills have to be paid, and payment can only come from those with either earning power or assets, through taxes or (and) inflation. Even if you vote out the current crowd their replacements will do the same thing.

Posted by Glenmore 2010-06-23 07:23|| 2010-06-23 07:23|| Front Page Top

#7 The Middle Class is the biggest voting block and the one that is getting screwed the hardest with taxes, cost of living increases and health care expenses.

The dhimocrats really don't want to be in power past 2010-2012 if they try to pull this.

Posted by DarthVader 2010-06-23 07:47|| 2010-06-23 07:47|| Front Page Top

#8 How about tax cuts and less spending? Makes their heads spin.

Posted by Spot 2010-06-23 08:29|| 2010-06-23 08:29|| Front Page Top

#9 Good point Cornsilk - Remember that when the housing crisis hit the media laid it all on the 'evil Republincans' even though the Democrats had controlled both houses of congress for 2 years and block each and every attempt at reform.

Posted by CrazyFool 2010-06-23 08:30|| 2010-06-23 08:30|| Front Page Top

#10 Hoyer: Democrats ~~Permanent middle class tax cuts~~ too costly

Posted by Procopius2k 2010-06-23 09:18|| 2010-06-23 09:18|| Front Page Top

#11 Pull out a dollar bill, RJ (if you still have one): it says "United States of America" on it twice, but nowhere does it say "Redneck Jim." See - it IS their money, and not yours.

That's right. And, as Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's."

It's just that Caesar really is spending too much money on stupid stuff. And besides that, Steny Hoyer is a pig who deserves to lose his job.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2010-06-23 12:32|| 2010-06-23 12:32|| Front Page Top

#12 If the CEO of a company with a major cash flow issue and a catastrophic balance sheet problem went to his board and said that there was just no way to reduce the company's operating expenses, that CEO would be out on his ass and/or the company would be consulting bankruptcy counsel.

The federal government employs about 2 million civilian workers. While I have no doubt that that number includes many people who really give the country its money's worth, is every one of those 2 million employees mission critical? Would the nation survive without the services of the Second Assistant Undersecretary of State for Andorran Affairs? What would be lost if Nancy Pelosi had to fly coach? What exactly does the Department of the Interior do for a living and why does it need 67,000 employees to do it?

Because we're way past the point of having to distinguish between services that might be desirable and those that are truly essential.

Posted by Matt 2010-06-23 13:40|| 2010-06-23 13:40|| Front Page Top

#13 How about taxing rent-seeking instead of working, investing, employing and saving?

Oh the whole idea is to make it easy for the rent-seeker politically connected class at the expense of those working, investing, employing or saving.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2010-06-23 19:13|| 2010-06-23 19:13|| Front Page Top

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