GOP seeks to cut Social Security for the poor and middle class
Do Nothing Congress Home Base – Republicans are at it again as today they demanded that any tax hikes on the wealthy must be coupled with a cut in spending on the poor by trimming cost of living increases for Social Security recipients.
Democrats, of course rejected this ludicrous proposal for the Republicans to further gut those most in need. The negotiations on the fiscal cliff continues to no avail. Lawmakers convened in a rare Sunday session that amounted to basically nothing more than a relief society session of nothingness.
Mitch McCconnell in a desperate temper tantrum telephoned the Vice President Joe Biden in hopes that he would come in and facilitate a compromise.
“I’m willing to get this done, but I need a dance partner,” McConnell. “The consequences of this are too high.”
Oddly enough the give and take between parties has been going on for almost a year. In amazement both parties are insistent that they are working alone to save the world…when in reality only one side seems to consider the poor and helpless as individuals worth saving. Needless to say the Democrats consider this move by the Republicans as a step in the wrong direction.
“When Leader Reid received this recent offer he was taken aback and disappointed,” said a Senate Democratic aide granted anonymity to discuss the private talks. “We feel we are further apart than we were 24 hours ago.”
Republicans are already seeking to redefine what is considered wealthy in this country as an individual making over $500,000. They also claim that inheritance taxes must be taken away from the table and that the poor and middle class must sacrifice more to get this deal done.
President Obama offered adjusting the cost of living for social security earlier this month to Republicans as a negotiating chip but unfortunately but not surprisingly talks between the Republicans and the president on this issue fell apart soon after.
Both Democrats and Republicans have been at work *cough cough bullshit* all day trying to come up with a compromise on this issue but no avail. Only time will tell if the Democrats come back with a counteroffer.
The president had initially proposed raising tax rates on the wealthiest 2% of Americans but then later compromised with Republicans to move that bar up to $400,000. Needless to say this compromise wasn’t enough to satisfy the Republican counterparts. Alas the president needed to negotiate once more.
Democrats have been willing to entertain the higher $500,000 income tax threshold Republicans want, but have resisted coupling that with a 35% rate on inheritance taxes for estates valued at more than $5 million. Obama wants the estate tax to rise to 45% on estates above $3.5 million.
With hours left to come to a resolution on the fiscal cliff Obama may just instruct his Democrats to just force the hand of the Republicans and see how this shake out in the House and the Senate along with the American People. Although it seems as if the American people have already voiced their opinions on this matter it may take a fit of outrage for something to get done in this Do Nothing Congress.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, Tax Law Tags: federal income tax, federal tax, fiscal cliff, mitt romney, republican, Republican Tax, tax increase, tax pledge, tax reform
Are new taxes fair?
The presidential election may have decided in favor of Obama, but a creepy reminder of Mitt Romney tax policy keeps creeping into view. With the fiscal cliff just around the corner every American is waiting with bated breath for these tax talks to be resolved.
A new idea from an unlikely source is getting bipartisan attention as a way to broaden the base of taxpayers while limiting loopholes and deductions taken by the wealthy. This proposal that just so happens to be the brainchild of the failed presidential contender Mitt Romney would limit the amount of itemized deductions to a certain monetary limit.
“There’s renewed interest” in the cap on deductions, Senator Kent Conrad, the North Dakota Democrat who heads the Senate Budget Committee said.
This seems like a too good to be true generic way of taxing everyone equally without getting any sore feelings from lobbyists or or powerful interests. Since it seems as if no one can pin down the actual specifics of any plan a politician puts forward until the thing is passed and already effecting our lives. Tax experts disagree that this methodology would serve as a quick fix for our broken tax system claiming that it would disproportionately effect different tax bases.
But this solution doesn’t tackle the larger tax preferences, which make up a large part of the Buffet rule, saying that no wealthy person should be paying less in taxes than their secretary.
These experts have their suspicions that this tax proposal may be a wolf in sheep’s clothing that disproportionately increases the tax burden on the poor and middle class while do nothing to curb the favorable tax environment for the wealthy. This would also effect the entire donor model which so many nonprofits, schools, and museums require to survive.
Martin Feldstein, a Harvard economist and the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Reagan, thinks that this methodology is a great way to lower the deficit. His proposal calls for capping deductions at 2 percent of income for all individuals.
But this cap on deductions would hit the lower socioeconomic classes where they need it the most… in the charitable sector. That is because this deduction is largely discretionary and at the will of the taxpayer to how much he or she would deduct from their tax bill.
Will this cap on deduction send the charitable sector or our economy into dire straights or is capping deductions that silver bullet needed put the breaks on the economy that is heading towards a fiscal cliff.
Categories: Federal Tax, Income Tax, Tax Law Tags: buffet rule, charitable deduction, corporate tax, federal income tax, federal tax, mitt romney, tax deduction, tax increase, tax reform