Bush Tax Cuts: From Bipartisan to Evil (Larry Elder)

Insurgent Democrats slow tax bill in House
WASHINGTON — The House struggled to overcome an uprising by insurgent Democrats late last night and pass an $858 billion package of Tax Cuts and stimulus spending that would save nearly all Americans at least hundreds of dollars. The vote is critical to President Obama, who has made the case for Compromise over complaints from the base of the Democratic Party, which has been pressing him to fight harder and keep a campaign promise to allow Tax Cuts to expire for wealthy Americans. The Sen...

Tax-cut deal wins final OK
WASHINGTON — The House passed an $858 billion package of extended Tax Cuts and stimulus spending late last night, saving at least hundreds of dollars for nearly all Americans and heralding the first broad Bipartisan Compromise of the Obama presidency. The 277-to-148 vote was a political victory for President Obama, who made the case for Compromise over complaints from the base of the Democratic Party. Some longtime Obama backers fought the president’s deal late into the night, conte...

U.S. House Approves Extending Bush-era Tax Cuts
WASHINGTON -- House lawmakers approved a two-year across-the-board extension of Bush-era Tax Cuts just before midnight on Thursday, capping off weeks of furious debate and ensuring that rates won't rise on virtually all Americans come Jan. 1. The bill, already passed by the Senate, now goes to President Barack Obama for signature. It also includes a 2% rollback of Social Security Payroll taxes; extends Unemployment Insurance for 13 months; and brings back the Estate Tax at 35% for two years on e...

Scarborough Pushes Family Farm Myth While Attacking the Estate Tax
House Democrats think this trade-off should be debated and voted on in the light of day. With Washington Republicans sharpening their Budget knives to cut spending on national priorities such as education, Border Security and Public Safety, it is hard to believe they think it's wise to give a Windfall to heirs such as Paris Hilton. Let's find out if Republicans really want to jeopardize Income Tax, Payroll Tax and Estate Tax relief for every American in order to provide a budget-busting bonanza ...

Highlights of the tax package passed by Congress
—Lower rates for Taxpayers at every income level. The top rate, on taxable income above $379,150, would stay at 35 percent, instead of increasing to 39.6 percent. The bottom rate, on taxable income below $8,500 for individuals and $17,000 for married couples, would stay at 10 percent, instead of increasing to 15 percent. Cost: $186.8 billion. —More generous itemized deductions for high-income households. Cost: $20.7 billion. —A more generous $1,000 child Tax Credit. Cost: $71.7...

Tax-Cut Vote in U.S. House Is Delayed By Procedural Dispute
Calif. Regulators OK major greenhouse gas rules 12.16.10 Taiwan, China to sign medical cooperation pact 12.16.10 Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. House plans to vote on President Barack Obama's $858 billion agreement to extend Bush- era Tax Cuts were delayed today because of a procedural dispute over the rules for debate. Many House Democrats opposed a debate structure offered by the Rules Committee that would have required lawmakers who want to increase the estate-tax rate in the bill to simultaneou...

House passes Obama's huge tax-cut bill
(12-17) 04:00 PST Washington - -- Enraging the liberal wing of his party, President Obama won the biggest Bipartisan victory of his presidency Thursday as the House passed his $858 billion, two-year Compromise with Republicans that temporarily extends all the Bush-era Tax Cuts and Unemployment Insurance. Furious Democrats - who in one of their last acts in the House majority found themselves extending the policies of former President George W. Bush - delayed passage until late in the evening, ...

Tax cut deal passes, heads to President Obama's desk
On the upside, the President's Tax Cut deal provides 13 months of Unemployment Insurance benefits, extends middle-class tax cuts, delivers targeted tax incentives for increased business spending including in the energy sector, and adds on top of that $120 billion in temporary tax cuts that are sure to have a stimulative effect. On the downside, Republicans refused to allow the Tax Cut deal to go forward without continuing the irresponsible Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, including an egregious s...

Tax cut deal passes heads, heads to President Obama's desk
On the upside, the President's Tax Cut deal provides 13 months of Unemployment Insurance benefits, extends middle-class tax cuts, delivers targeted tax incentives for increased business spending including in the energy sector, and adds on top of that $120 billion in temporary tax cuts that are sure to have a stimulative effect. On the downside, Republicans refused to allow the Tax Cut deal to go forward without continuing the irresponsible Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, including an egregious s...

Voodoo Tax Sophistry
Now that the Senate and House have passed Legislation to prevent a massive tax hike in 2011, it's a good time to ponder some of the misinformation out there. A few weeks ago, I addressed the topic of "Deficit sophistry."  Today, it's tax sophistry. Whenever I see the superficial, simplistic reporting and commentary on extending the Bush Tax Cuts, I just have to shake my head in disbelief. It seems 99 percent of the reporters, editors, commentators, and anchor-persons (How...

House clears tax-cut bill, on to Obama
WASHINGTON — Congress approved the most significant tax bill in nearly a decade late Thursday, overcoming liberal resistance to continue for two more years Tax Breaks enacted under President George W. Bush and to provide a fresh boost of federal support to the tepid Economic Recovery. The package, brokered by President Obama and Republican leaders, angered many Democrats, who have long argued that the Bush Tax Cuts were skewed to benefit the wealthy. But their last-minute campaign to sca...

Bill Preventing Big Tax Hikes Heads to Obama
Friday, December 17, 2010 By Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California heads into a Democratic Caucus meeting on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Dec. 16, 2010. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., is at left and Rep. Bob Etheridge, D-N.C., is at center. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg) Washington (AP) - A massive Bipartisan tax package preventing a big New Year's Day tax hike for millions of Americans is on its way to President Barack Obama for his signature. The measure would ...

Bill Preventing Tax Hikes Heads to Obama
(WASHINGTON) — A massive Bipartisan tax package preventing a big New Year's Day tax hike for millions of Americans is on its way to President Barack Obama for his signature. The measure would extend Tax Cuts for families at every income level, renew jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and enact a new one-year cut in Social Security taxes that would benefit nearly every worker who earns a wage. In a remarkable show of Bipartisanship, the House gave final approval to the measure...

BREAKING: Tax cut deal passes House, heads to Obama's desk
Late last night, the House of Representatives passed extension of currents Tax Rates and Unemployment Benefits by a vote of 277 to 148, despite a failed effort by Democrats to increase the Death Tax from 35% to 45%: A tax-cut Compromise between President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans - a harbinger of a new era of divided government in Washington - cleared the House around midnight Thursday, sending the $858 billion bill to the president’s desk. The bill, which passed 277 to 14

US Congress passes Obama tax deal
The US House of Representatives has passed a Compromise tax bill averting a New Year rise in income taxes for millions of Americans. The deal forged by the White House and Republicans also extends benefit payments for some of the longer-term unemployed for 13 months. The Senate passed the bill on Wednesday but its chances of passing the lower chamber had been seen as less certain. Some Democrats have been angry about Tax Breaks for wealthy Americans. However, President Barack Obama had said that...

BREAKING - your taxes are going up
Thanks DC.  You helped us all out by leaps and bounds into the Abyss of Obscurity. The House late Thursday gave final approval, 277-148, to a temporary extension of the George W. Bush-era Tax Rates, delivering a significant but politically bruising victory to President Obama. We can admit now to President Bush when he said that the current debate on the Hill are not the Bush Tax Cuts but don't tell anyone on the Hill. As the Democrats have been tip-toeing around this issue since last summer...

Two Years of Tax Cuts for One Year of Unemployment Insurance. Nothing for the 99ers
The Democrats’ epic cave-in on the Bush Tax Cuts is now complete. Late Thursday night, by a vote of 277-148, the House of Representatives approved a deal brokered by President Obama and congressional Republicans to extend, for two years, the Bush Tax Cuts for all income levels in exchange for a one-year extension of the filing deadline for federal Unemployment Insurance. Because the version passed by the House is identical to the bill passed by the Senate earlier this week, it will be sent...

What "Obama tax cuts"?
Why are the media referring to the deal President Obama made with the Republicans as the "Obama Tax Cut" or, for that matter, a tax cut at all? Here is a grab from Google News today. Where to begin? First - show me the tax cut! Anyone’s tax cut. The tax deal Democrats keep claiming will “cut taxes for the rich” doesn’t cut taxes at all. It keeps rates the same. Unchanged. As in, “not lower than they are now.” Of course I realize that Tax Rates are scheduled to...

House passes president's tax-cut compromise
(12-16) 04:00 PST Washington - -- Enraging the liberal wing of his party, President Obama won the biggest Bipartisan victory of his presidency Thursday as the House passed his $858 billion, two-year Compromise with Republicans that temporarily extends all the Bush-era Tax Cuts and Unemployment Insurance. Furious Democrats - who in one of their last acts in the House majority found themselves extending the policies of former President George W. Bush - delayed passage until late in the evening, ...

House Resumes Debate on Tax-Cut Bill
The House Representatives, after a dispute among Democrats, on Thursday headed toward anticipated passage of the tax deal that President Barack Obama struck with Republicans that would likely boost The Economy but also deepen the Deficit. Democratic leaders hoped to approve the bill later on Thursday or early on Friday, after the bill snagged in a disagreement over how Liberal Democrats could vent their Disapproval of elements of the deal that they say are too favorable to the rich. The $858 bil...

House passes Obama's huge tax-cut bill
(12-17) 04:00 PST Washington - -- Enraging the liberal wing of his party, President Obama won the biggest Bipartisan victory of his presidency Thursday as the House passed his $858 billion, two-year Compromise with Republicans that temporarily extends all the Bush-era Tax Cuts and Unemployment Insurance. Furious Democrats - who in one of their last acts in the House majority found themselves extending the policies of former President George W. Bush - delayed passage until late in the evening, ...

Tax-cut and stimulus package expected to pass Thursday in House
Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles — The House on Thursday found itself temporarily stymied on how to proceed on the tax-cut extension package when some Democrats protested the terms of debate on the package negotiated by President Obama and Republicans. The House on Thursday found itself temporarily stymied on how to proceed on the tax-cut extension package when some Democrats protested the terms of debate on the package negotiated by President Obama and Republicans. Originally,...

House debates tax package, vote set
Published: Dec. 16, 2010 at 9:27 PM Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) attends a House Rules Committee in Washington on March 20, 2010. The Committee is expected to pass a rule that will incorporate the Senate Health Care bill into the House version before the House votes tomorrow on a final version of the bill. UPI/Alexis C. Glenn WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. House Thursday debated Legislation negotiated by President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans to extend Tax Cuts enacted 10 years ...

House approves tax-cut package
Published: Dec. 16, 2010 at 11:59 PM Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) attends a House Rules Committee in Washington on March 20, 2010. The Committee is expected to pass a rule that will incorporate the Senate Health Care bill into the House version before the House votes tomorrow on a final version of the bill. UPI/Alexis C. Glenn WASHINGTON, Dec. 16 (UPI) -- The U.S. House late Thursday approved Legislation negotiated by President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans to extend Tax Cuts enacted 10...

Tax Deal Passes the House 277 to 148
Get alerts when there is a new article that might interest you. Per C-Span, by a vote of 277 to 148 the House just passed the Tax Cut deal to extend Bush Tax Rates for two years, cut the Payroll Tax, and extend Unemployment Benefits, etc. In 2001, the Bush tax cuts only received 230 votes. Progress, no? Don't sacrifice unit cohesion for a social experiment. And there's a role for Congress. The Afghan government has likely released dozens of Gitmo Detainees, and many more from Bagram, i...