Deficit Be Damned: House Passes Obama Tax Bill
Before I get to the story, here's a reminder on where things stand. And this figure is before the extension of the Bush tax cuts and everything else thrown into this irresponsible bill, so you'll need to add another trillion to the total.
A $20.6 trillion national debt by 2015.
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The U.S. debt will top $13.6 trillion this year and climb to an estimated $19.6 trillion by 2015, according to a Treasury Department report to Congress.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN088462520100608
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Acting with uncommon speed, Congress sent President Barack Obama sweeping, bipartisan legislation late Thursday night to avoid a Jan. 1 spike in income taxes for millions and renew jobless benefits for victims of the worst recession in 80 years.
The measure also will cut Social Security taxes for nearly every wage-earner and pump billions of dollars into the still-sluggish economy.
The 277-148 vote came the day after the Senate cleared the bill, 81-19.
Passage was backed by 139 Democrats and 138 Republicans. Opposed were 112 Democrats and 36 Republicans, many of whom wanted to include spending cuts to offset the $56 billion cost of the unemployment benefits.
After struggling with rank and file discontent, the Democratic leadership splintered at the end. Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California did not vote, while Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland supported the measure. Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, outgoing chairman of the Democratic campaign committee, opposed it after assuming a prominent role in pushing for the estate tax increase.
The bill provides a two-year extension of tax cuts enacted when George W. Bush was president, avoiding an increase at all income levels that would otherwise occur on New Year's Day.
It would also renew an expiring program of benefits for the long-term jobless, and enact a reduction in Social Security taxes for 2011 that would amount to $1,000 for an individual earning $50,000 a year. The bill's cost, $858 billion over two years, would be tacked on to the federal deficit, a sore spot with deficit hawks in both parties.
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David Stockman on the national debt and tax cuts...
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Video - David Stockman on the Colbert Report - Dec. 2, 2010
Stockman says the deficit solution is to let the Bush tax cuts expire and cut the budget for the pentagon killing machine. Sound familiar..?..
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More recent coverage of the deficit rape...
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Dec 17, 2010 at 3:06 AM
Reader Comments (12)
Accountants and payroll departments are on edge waiting for changes in tax-cut bill
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Accountants-on-edge-waiting-apf-2801911097.html?x=0
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN088462520100608
Federal Reserve proposes capping merchant debit card fees at 12 cents in blow to big banks
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fed-proposes-12cent-cap-on-apf-471262234.html?x=0
http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/1292518215.php
Two centuries of monetary and fiscal policy and banking
AS VIEWED by Christopher Whalen, America’s financial history has been one losing battle after another against the “twin demons” of debt and inflation. To illustrate this he takes the reader on a journey through more than two centuries of monetary and fiscal policy and banking. Some of his best insights lie at the nexus between these worlds.
Along the way he has much to say about the evolution of public attitudes towards money. The gold rush created an alternative to the Puritan notion of hard work and saving that had characterised the nation’s early days. Another watershed was the legal-tender act under Abraham Lincoln, which paved the way for an acceptance of deficit spending. Monetary mores grew looser still in the 1920s with the explosion of consumer finance (tied to the rise of the motor car) and speculative, debt-fuelled investment.
http://www.economist.com/node/17730464?story_id=17730464&fsrc=rss
http://dailybail.com/home/the-15-senators-who-had-the-guts-to-vote-no-on-bankrupting-a.html
http://dailybail.com/home/a-message-to-the-wall-street-captured-bailout-loving-militar.html
http://dailybail.com/home/deficit-giveaways-turn-obama-gop-tax-cut-bill-into-christmas.html
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=175240
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BG3UW20101217
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/01/business/01legal.html
I would also look into Michael Mukaseys' refusal to investigate Mortgage Fraud as was other Federal agencies.
This is a very serious issue. Approximately 60 million foreclosures to date. Tax incentives for companies to move off shore, People and businesses using credit cards to make ends meet until that is exausted, People going bankrupt or having their credit destroyed trying to make ends meet (try finding a job with bad credit)........ College student in debt up to their eyeballs without any hope of employment........... How can displaced workers get a student loan for jobs that aren't there? Even with good credit if you are 45 or older you will have a most difficult time finding employment (according to unemployment agencies).
If the economy turned around now (which is impossible), it is too late for everyone who fell victim to this scam or are about to. The banks and banking interests did this and need to be taken to task. Those suffering damage need to be made whole. It was not their fault.
would be looking at this case (if it even gets that far). There are rumors that Larry Summers may be going back to Harvard for a job.