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Obama Announces 'Framework' for Deal With Congress to Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts

Erod

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Obama Announces 'Framework' for Deal With Congress to Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts - FoxNews.com

President Obama
and White House officials underscored the need to compromise Monday in unveiling a congressional deal to avoid the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts at the end of the year, but some of the toughest critics of Obama's version of compromise come from within his own party.

Democrats have generally argued that the tax cuts should be extended for the middle class -- but not for the wealthiest 2 percent. Republicans have argued that the cuts should be extended for all taxpayers.

The "framework" of the deal that Obama outlined Monday evening calls for a two-year extension of the cuts in all income tax brackets. It also would extend long-term unemployment benefits through next year. The estate tax rate would be renewed, but at a lower rate than even during the Bush administration. And the Obama administration is proposing a one-year payroll tax reduction that sources say would cut the amount contributed to Social Security from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent.

Notably, unemployment benefits will be extended by 13 months (taking it to 3+ years), and social security taxes will be reduced from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent, giving everyone a few extra bucks in their next paycheck.

From a business perspective, not only will the Bush tax cuts be extended, small businesses will now be able to deduct 100 percent of their capital improvements/investments in their company (up from 50 percent before).

This is more proof that Democrats like Obama run on these platitudes to get votes, but they know the only way to truly stimulate the economy is to put the money in our hands. The recent elections, and the real world, left him no choice but to go the GOP way and then engage in spin control.

The problem for Obama is that, because he didn't extend the cuts for more years, the debate will rage on for the next two years until the issue comes back, just in time for the 2012 presidential election. And what far left liberals are going to trust him now.

I will say this: I'm grateful that he capitulated, although extending the benefits to over two years seems like a bad message. Many Americans are licking their chops at free money for no work for three years. We all know a few folks like that.
 
Obama Announces 'Framework' for Deal With Congress to Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts - FoxNews.com



Notably, unemployment benefits will be extended by 13 months (taking it to 3+ years), and social security taxes will be reduced from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent, giving everyone a few extra bucks in their next paycheck.

From a business perspective, not only will the Bush tax cuts be extended, small businesses will now be able to deduct 100 percent of their capital improvements/investments in their company (up from 50 percent before).

This is more proof that Democrats like Obama run on these platitudes to get votes, but they know the only way to truly stimulate the economy is to put the money in our hands. The recent elections, and the real world, left him no choice but to go the GOP way and then engage in spin control.

The problem for Obama is that, because he didn't extend the cuts for more years, the debate will rage on for the next two years until the issue comes back, just in time for the 2012 presidential election. And what far left liberals are going to trust him now.

I will say this: I'm grateful that he capitulated, although extending the benefits to over two years seems like a bad message. Many Americans are licking their chops at free money for no work for three years. We all know a few folks like that.

Everyone should be happy about that 2%. That's not a smoke/mirrors 2%, that's the real thing. As to extending unemployment to three years, I think that's ridiculous. We need safeguards in place to avoid abuse. I personally know of no one who can't find a job....and at least two using it as their personal paid vacations. (I should caveat that I live in the Chicago Metro Area. I could see how rural areas could be quite different.)
 
Obama Announces 'Framework' for Deal With Congress to Extend Bush-Era Tax Cuts - FoxNews.com



Notably, unemployment benefits will be extended by 13 months (taking it to 3+ years), and social security taxes will be reduced from 6.2 percent to 4.2 percent, giving everyone a few extra bucks in their next paycheck.

From a business perspective, not only will the Bush tax cuts be extended, small businesses will now be able to deduct 100 percent of their capital improvements/investments in their company (up from 50 percent before).

This is more proof that Democrats like Obama run on these platitudes to get votes, but they know the only way to truly stimulate the economy is to put the money in our hands. The recent elections, and the real world, left him no choice but to go the GOP way and then engage in spin control.

The problem for Obama is that, because he didn't extend the cuts for more years, the debate will rage on for the next two years until the issue comes back, just in time for the 2012 presidential election. And what far left liberals are going to trust him now.

I will say this: I'm grateful that he capitulated, although extending the benefits to over two years seems like a bad message. Many Americans are licking their chops at free money for no work for three years. We all know a few folks like that.

Well you got your wish, now you can stop bitching about the deficit... right? Because these tax cuts are gonna add a ****load more to it.
 
You know, neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are doing the right thing here. None of them have the intestinal fortitude to do the right thing, which is to let the tax cuts expire AND let the unemployment benefits also expire. Want to balance the budget? Do you really? Then steps must be taken, and some of those steps are going to deal out a little hurt to everybody. But IF you are really serious about getting the deficit under control, it is going to have to be done. You just won't see any of our politicians on board, though, because they are cowards.
 
You know, neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are doing the right thing here. None of them have the intestinal fortitude to do the right thing, which is to let the tax cuts expire AND let the unemployment benefits also expire. Want to balance the budget? Do you really? Then steps must be taken, and some of those steps are going to deal out a little hurt to everybody. But IF you are really serious about getting the deficit under control, it is going to have to be done. You just won't see any of our politicians on board, though, because they are cowards.

I did see a poll somewhere that Americans favour job growth over deficit reduction, trying to find it but I'm havin a little trouble.

Dude, deficit reduction is so November 2nd ago! lol.
 
You know, neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are doing the right thing here. None of them have the intestinal fortitude to do the right thing, which is to let the tax cuts expire AND let the unemployment benefits also expire. Want to balance the budget? Do you really? Then steps must be taken, and some of those steps are going to deal out a little hurt to everybody. But IF you are really serious about getting the deficit under control, it is going to have to be done. You just won't see any of our politicians on board, though, because they are cowards.
As much as I agree with you that the deficits needs to be solved, given the current economic situation, now is not the time to seriously make attempts to balance the budget. Looking at your plan of allowing the tax cuts to lapse as well as cutting unemployment, both would almost certainly lead to a double dip recession.

As soon as unemployment begins to fall that represents the perfect time to begin scaling back government spending on all levels, as well as maybe letting these tax cuts lapse. But then getting people back to work will go a long way in cutting the deficit. Not only will revenues increase but also fewer people will need to use government programs.
 
As much as I agree with you that the deficits needs to be solved, given the current economic situation, now is not the time to seriously make attempts to balance the budget. Looking at your plan of allowing the tax cuts to lapse as well as cutting unemployment, both would almost certainly lead to a double dip recession.

As soon as unemployment begins to fall that represents the perfect time to begin scaling back government spending on all levels, as well as maybe letting these tax cuts lapse. But then getting people back to work will go a long way in cutting the deficit. Not only will revenues increase but also fewer people will need to use government programs.

The economy is by no means a one party system. There are producers, consumers, as well as leakages and injections. Firms take labor, capital and land from households and convert them into goods and services which are sold back to the household. In exchange for labor, land and capital the firms give households wages, rent and interest. This is a very simplified view of how economies work (I haven't talked about injections and leakages because they are irrelevant to this topic). If any part of this cycle is damaged, economic growth will decrease, and if this growth becomes decay, and maintains that status for two quarters, then it becomes a recession.

Over the past recession income inequality has increased, unemployment has increased, real wages have stagnated or decreased and corporate profits have generally increased. If demand drops because of a lack of disposable income then the economy will suffer greatly. The rich can set up as many businesses as they like, but it won't be all that beneficial if nobody has the money to buy the goods. The 3rd Quintile of income (40%-60%, the middle class) brings in $45,199 on average per year, and has a total expenditure of $41,150. The department of labor has some interesting statistics. I never knew they were this comprehensive :O

What am I trying to say? Not that we shouldn't worry about taxing the rich. Tax rates are a leakage from the economy, and thus decrease growth also. But rather that it's not always about supply side...

A graph I quickly whipped up:

income.png


They should spend some of that on creating jobs.
 
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Several officials said the package could add $900 billion or more to the federal deficit over two years.

Borrow another $900 billion from the chinese for an extra year of unemployment checks and tax cuts for millionaires.. wtf really?
yet again it's the working middle class thats getting screwed from both sides.

The working middle class can no longer retire comfortably in the US, soooo I'm outta here eventually.. already got me some land outside of the US that I'm investing on and keeping what little money I have outside of this country.
 
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I will say this: I'm grateful that he capitulated, although extending the benefits to over two years seems like a bad message. Many Americans are licking their chops at free money for no work for three years. We all know a few folks like that.

I had these same thoughts. As I've studied unemployment benefits in other countries (some in Europe have been as long as five years) it's clear that there's a group of people who will stay on the benefits until they run out. Sad but true.
 
I expect to hear none of these right-wing Republicans complaining about the size of the deficit over the next two years....seeing that the GOP will be responsible now for adding trillions to the deficit.
 
I expect to hear none of these right-wing Republicans complaining about the size of the deficit over the next two years....seeing that the GOP will be responsible now for adding trillions to the deficit.

Really? Please tell me what Republican thing in this bill is specifically ADDING money to the deficit?
 
Borrow another $900 billion from the chinese for an extra year of unemployment checks and tax cuts for millionaires.. wtf really?
yet again it's the working middle class thats getting screwed from both sides.
Not really, the vast majority of that $900 billion figure goes to the "working middle class."
 
I expect to hear none of these right-wing Republicans complaining about the size of the deficit over the next two years....seeing that the GOP will be responsible now for adding trillions to the deficit.
You're confused. This (will be) passed by Democrats.
 
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I will say this: I'm grateful that he capitulated, although extending the benefits to over two years seems like a bad message. Many Americans are licking their chops at free money for no work for three years. We all know a few folks like that.
It certainly doesn't help the unemployment rate, could bite him in 2012.
 
Well you got your wish, now you can stop bitching about the deficit... right? Because these tax cuts are gonna add a ****load more to it.

And you can stop bitching about the deficit..right? The jobs the Libbos have killed, will keep it alive and well.
 
Everyone should be happy about that 2%. That's not a smoke/mirrors 2%, that's the real thing. As to extending unemployment to three years, I think that's ridiculous. We need safeguards in place to avoid abuse. I personally know of no one who can't find a job....and at least two using it as their personal paid vacations. (I should caveat that I live in the Chicago Metro Area. I could see how rural areas could be quite different.)

I honestly cannot see how anyone on unemployment can stay on it for so long. Where I live you are required to search for a job continueously while on it. Giving the unemployment office a list of jobs that you have applied to and the names, addresses, phone numbers of those jobs. They check up on them. You must apply for a certain amount of jobs each week also. If you are offered a job and refuse it your unemployment benefits are cancled.
 
I honestly cannot see how anyone on unemployment can stay on it for so long. Where I live you are required to search for a job continueously while on it. Giving the unemployment office a list of jobs that you have applied to and the names, addresses, phone numbers of those jobs. They check up on them. You must apply for a certain amount of jobs each week also. If you are offered a job and refuse it your unemployment benefits are cancled.

Yeah. They have to do that here as well. People just grab a phonebook. They may spot doublecheck, but that's about it. I know two people who used it as a paid vacation, and that's exactly what they did....one even went on a month's vacation to Florida last January while collecting -- and phoned in instead of appearing once a week. Talk about a corrupt system. ('Course I am talking about Illinois.....) ;-)
 
Really? Please tell me what Republican thing in this bill is specifically ADDING money to the deficit?

How are Republicans proposing that we pay for the two trillion in cuts that Republicans want to give to the wealthiest Americans? That's the thing about you Republicans, you want all kinds of tax breaks for the wealthy, but you have no ideas about how to fund them.
 
How are Republicans proposing that we pay for the two trillion in cuts that Republicans want to give to the wealthiest Americans? That's the thing about you Republicans, you want all kinds of tax breaks for the wealthy, but you have no ideas about how to fund them.

Some things never change, people keeping more of what they earn is an expense to a liberal. Here are the line items for the expenses of the United States. I don't see tax cuts anywhere on the list

Expenses

Defense
International Affairs
Gen. Science, Space
Energy
Natural resources/env
Agriculture
Commerce
Transportation
Community Dev
Education/Train/Social
Health
Medicare
Income Security
Social Security
Veterans Benefits
Justice
General Govt.
Net Interest

So please explain to me what the h**l are you talking about. In your personal life when you get less income is that an expense?
 
disneydude;1059145306[B said:
]How are Republicans proposing that we pay for the two trillion in cuts that Republicans want to give to the wealthiest Americans? That's the thing about you Republicans, you want all kinds of tax breaks for the wealthy, but you have no ideas about how to fund them.
[/B] I have a 1000 dollars and and you have a 1000 dollar credit card debt. I don't give you any money. Do you now owe more than 1000 dollars?
 
Well you got your wish, now you can stop bitching about the deficit... right? Because these tax cuts are gonna add a ****load more to it.

How is allowing people to keep more of what they earn an expense to the govt and thus adds to the deficit? I keep hearing that and no one can explain it. If, and that is a big IF, govt. revenue goes down then there are "brilliant" individuals in this Administration that can come up with economic revenue projections. Stop the Damn spending and you won't have a deficit problem. Here are the line items. You get a trillion dollars less revenue, think you can find a trillion dollars here to cut?

Expenses

Defense 662.8
International Affairs 38.6
Gen. Science, Space 29.9
Energy 4.6
Natural resources/env 45.7
Agriculture 14.0
Commerce 292.5
Transportation 84.4
Community Dev 26.2
Education/Train/Social 78.2
Health 334.3
Medicare 430.1
Income Security 533.9
Social Security 683.0
Veterans Benefits 95.5
Justice 53.4
General Govt. 17.6
Net Interest 190.9


Total 3615.6

I am extremely tired of that same old argument over and over again from the left that allowing people to keep more of their money is bad for the country.
 
In the last year those that have read my posts know that I have no love for Obama economic policies and liberal policies in general but I do take this opportunity to give Obama credit for compromising with the Republicans to extend the Bush tax cuts and move towards supply side economic policy in recognition that what he has done up to now has failed. I did find it interesting that he said this was the right move for the American people so that raises the question why did he come to that conclusion now? What took so long and why the contradiction from what he has stated over the past two years.

I am also grateful seeing Obama go against the far left loons and seeing them going ballistic. Anything that makes the left go crazy is a good thing in my book. The negative in this compromise is adding another 13 months of unemployment payments making it now three years for millions of chronically unemployed. Can you imagine being out of the work force for 3 years and then offering a new employer anything of value? That will be some interview requiring a real song and dance by the prospective employee. Today there are 3.6 million job openings according to the labor department which would almost wipe out the entire job losses of the first two years of the Obama economic plan. Wonder how many of those being paid unemployment money will be applying?
 
In the last year those that have read my posts know that I have no love for Obama economic policies and liberal policies in general but I do take this opportunity to give Obama credit for compromising with the Republicans to extend the Bush tax cuts and move towards supply side economic policy in recognition that what he has done up to now has failed. I did find it interesting that he said this was the right move for the American people so that raises the question why did he come to that conclusion now? What took so long and why the contradiction from what he has stated over the past two years.

I am also grateful seeing Obama go against the far left loons and seeing them going ballistic. Anything that makes the left go crazy is a good thing in my book. The negative in this compromise is adding another 13 months of unemployment payments making it now three years for millions of chronically unemployed. Can you imagine being out of the work force for 3 years and then offering a new employer anything of value? That will be some interview requiring a real song and dance by the prospective employee. Today there are 3.6 million job openings according to the labor department which would almost wipe out the entire job losses of the first two years of the Obama economic plan. Wonder how many of those being paid unemployment money will be applying?

I just found out something. The benefits don't apply to those unemployed for 99 wks. Only those on the other tiers. Olbermann is having a hissy fit over it right now. LOL Anything that makes him go spastic, I'm all for. :)
 
I just found out something. The benefits don't apply to those unemployed for 99 wks. Only those on the other tiers. Olbermann is having a hissy fit over it right now. LOL Anything that makes him go spastic, I'm all for. :)

Which goes to show you..........

Here is a picture of the firearm carried by the average American voter:

RTkFt.jpg
 
How are Republicans proposing that we pay for the two trillion in cuts that Republicans want to give to the wealthiest Americans?

What cuts?

You act like the money was guaranteed. It wasn't. The tax cuts were set to expire, but it would be plain historical ignorance to suggest that was some kind of guarantee that the taxes would return to the previous rates. Tax votes happened under the last 4 presidents at least, its incompetence to have thought the same wouldn't have happened this time. NOT getting money that was never guaranteed to you is not "adding" anything. If you think at the end of the year you're going to get a Christmas bonus and so you've bought a bunch of extra stuff assuming something that isn't guaranteed will happen, and on December 1st they decide not to give bonuses, they're not "adding" to your debt because you never truly had that money in the first place.

I don't seem to remember the Democrats, in the past 4 years that they had the congress and the past 2 years when they had EVERYTHING, deciding to do anything about the deficit. On the contrary, I watched them in two years outdo all 8 of the Bush years with regards to deficit spending. And you want to bitch because theoretical money that was never guaranteed and was ignorance to bank on won't be there?

Wild idea, do what they should've been doing the past four years, and republicans should've been doing the 6 years before that, and spend only what they actually are getting instead of more then they get...or hell, spend less.

The Republicans don't need to explain to you why Democrats don't get more money to waste. The tax rates returning to a higher level was never a guarantee, so how about the Democrats actually look for solutions if they want to bitch rather than complaining they can't spend money they never had?

But thanks for not asking my question...I'll ask again since you did the shuck and jive shuffle to avoid it.

Tell me, SPECIFICALLY, is in the Bill that republicans pushed that ADDS to the Deficit.

Still waiting for you to back up your statement Disney...or do you dodge away again?

That's the thing about you Republicans, you want all kinds of tax breaks for the wealthy, but you have no ideas about how to fund them.[/QUOTE]
 
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