The Obama/Republican Tax Compromise: Should Conservative Support It?

Dems play fiscal chicken
The behavior of Liberal Democrats in the U.S. House is, well, nothing short of astonishing. Yesterday they were in full-throated revolt against the Tax Cut Compromise crafted by a Democratic president. Barack Obama, whose political survival instincts seem to be intact, agreed to a two-year extension of all the Bush era tax cuts, a reasonable extension of the Estate Tax that exempts estates under the $5 million mark, getting in return a 13-month extension on Unemployment Benefits and a cut i...

Tax Proposal Wins Norquist Seal of Approval
By Jonathan Weisman With so many Republicans signing Americans for Tax Reform’s “no new taxes” pledge, the judgment of ATR President Grover Norquist matters for the fate of the tax deal cut between Republican congressional leaders and President Barack Obama . And the judgment is, the deal does not raise taxes. “We’ve been supportive of it,” said Ryan Ellis , head of tax policy for Americans for Tax Reform. Club for Growth, a conservative political action committee, came out ag

"Supply-Side Economics: Tea Party Style"
Pro-Growth Liberal takes is puzzled by Michele Bachmann's complaint that extending Unemployment Insurance will increase the Deficit: Supply-side Economics: Tea Party Style: Andrew Leonard covers the opposition to the Obama-McConnell tax deal coming from Tea Party star Michele Bachmann. I’m tempted to say that her comments make me feel 30 years younger... After all, 30 years ago we were mocking supply-siders and their Laugher Curve. Andrew notes: And as for what the country can afford? Th...

Reminder: Republican Hysteria About "The Death Tax" Is Based On Misinformation
Since the White House and Senate Republican leaders announced the framework of a deal to extend the Bush Tax Cuts for two years, the provisions regarding the Estate Tax have drawn criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike. Under the deal, the Estate Tax would be set at 35 percent and would only apply to estates larger than $5 million. While Democrats reportedly oppose those generous parameters, many congressional Republicans insist that any "death tax" at all is unacceptable and even "crue...

Wierd Tax Myths #2 -" Recessions, Depressens & Tax Policy
The crash came in 1929. When Ronald Reagan came into office in 1981, the top marginal rate was, once again, 70%. Reagan started cutting in 1982, down to 50%, then to 38.5% in 1987, and 28% in 1988. There was a boom in the fiscal sector. In the mid-eighties the collapse began, and over 1,600 banks failed. There was a huge Bailout. It was followed by the Recession of 1990. Taxes went up slightly under George H.W. Bush, then again under Bill Clinton. The Economy recovered. However, in 1997, th...

Mark Engler: Obama's Tax Cut Debacle: When Compromise Is the Enemy of the Good
I think we need a new aphorism or analogy to counter the old saying, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." This is the principle that President Obama has once again offered up, this time after disastrously caving in to the Republicans over Tax Cuts for the rich. A new, contrary adage should warn against compromising to the point at which you end up supporting something vile. I asked some friends and readers for ideas. "Drowning the baby with the bath water," was one thought. My y...

DeMint no longer committed to filibustering Obamas tax cuts deal?
I’m confused. First he told Hugh Hewitt this: HH: I’ve got some quick questions for you. The first is if the deal reached between the President and the Republican leadership yesterday makes it to the floor of the Senate in substantially the same form, will you vote for Cloture to allow a final vote on it? And would you vote for it on that final vote if it cleared cloture? JD: No. HH: On both counts? JD: On both counts. I’m glad the President recognizes that Tax Increases hurt the ec...

GOP Senator DeMint Opposes Current Tax Compromise
Thursday, December 09, 2010 Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) (CNSNews.com) - Republican Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) opposes the Tax Rate and Unemployment Benefits deal negotiated between Republican lawmakers and the White House “as currently structured,” spokesman Wesley Denton told CNSNews.com. “Senator DeMint does not support the deal as currently structured as it includes huge new Deficit spending and death tax hikes on small businesses that would kill hundreds of th

How the World Works: The economics of tax-cut fear-mongering
Despite a full-court press from the White House warning that the U.S. might slip into a "double-dip" Recession if congressional Democrats reject Obama's tax-cut deal, the House Democratic Caucus voted against bringing the package up for a vote on Thursday morning. Judging the significance of the vote is tricky. According to ABC's Rick Klein, the mastermind of the maneuver, Rep. Peter Defazio, D.-Ore., the vote rejecting the deal "was nearly unanimous." Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi declared ...

Paul Krugman: Obamas Hostage Deal
Obama needs to understand that "concerns about the tax deal reflect realism, not purism": Obama’s Hostage Deal, by Paul Krugman, Commentary, NY Times: I’ve spent the past couple of days trying to make my peace with the Obama-McConnell tax-cut deal. President Obama did, after all, extract more concessions than most of us expected. Yet I remain deeply uneasy... Obama has bought the release of some hostages only by providing the G.O.P. with new hostages. About the deal: Republicans ...

Tax Bill to add $857 Billion to Debt
by CalculatedRisk on 12/09/2010 11:10:00 PM From Bloomberg: Senate Tax-Cut Extension Plan Would Add $857 Billion to Debt The congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, which estimates the revenue effects of tax Legislation, said the provisions would cost the government $801.3 billion in forgone revenue over 10 years. Extending Unemployment Benefits for 13 months, another feature of the package, would cost $56 billion, the Obama Administration has said.It is important to remember the Joint Com...

Democrats Reject Dear Leader's Tax Rate Compromise With GOP: Want To Raise Our Taxes
"That One" just got the finger from Bella Pelosi and the tax and spending Liberals in the House (AP). The House Democratic Caucus has voted to reject President Barack Obama's tax deal with Republicans in its current form. By voice vote, the Rank and File Democrats passed a resolution Thursday that said the tax package should not come to the floor of the House for consideration. Rep. Peter Defazio, D-Ore., introduced the resolution. Said Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas: "If it's take it or leave it,...

John Thune: Better Tax Cut Deal For Republicans 'Not Likely To Happen' (VIDEO)
South Dakota Senator and potential Presidential Candidate John Thune suggested Wednesday that his fellow conservative heavyweights Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Sarah Palin shouldn't expect to be able to craft better Tax Cut bargain for the GOP considering the current Makeup of Congress and the White House. DeMint and Palin have both announced their opposition to the current deal as drawn out by Obama this week, because they believe the minimal increases to the death tax and the two-year extens...

Senate sets up cloture vote for Monday on tax bill
Senate Democrats are moving ahead with a package to extend the Bush Tax Cuts for two years setting up a Cloture vote for 3 p.m. Monday.  A draft bill is still expected to be released soon with Senate Democrats ironing out the final details of the package, that extend the Bush-era Tax Cuts for two years and federal Unemployment Benefits for 13 months. The House has balked at the plan and said they will wait to see what the Senate does before determining whether they'll bring up the bill.  Hou...

Is the Obama-GOP tax deal about to collapse?
Things may be going swimmingly in the US Senate, but not so the House: WASHINGTON (Reuters) -House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi will not bring President Barack Obama’s current proposed tax plan up for a vote in her chamber, an aide said on Thursday. The aide said Pelosi would require changes be made to the measure that most of her fellow House Democrats formally opposed by approving a resolution of opposition to it. The aide said: “She (Pelosi) will honor the resolution.&...

Progressives Keeping Heat on Obama
One progressive group sure doesn’t mind using President Obama’s words against him. In a new television advertisement, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee is using a Speech Mr. Obama gave on the stump in 2008 to criticize the recent Compromise over the Bush Tax Cuts. In the spot, Mr. Obama calls out Senator John McCain, the Republican Candidate for president in 2008, for supporting tax cuts for the wealthy after previously opposing them. “Well, they may have stopped offending John

Charles Krauthammer - Swindle of the year
Barack Obama won the great tax-cut showdown of 2010 - and House Democrats don't have a clue that he did. In the deal struck this week, the president negotiated the biggest stimulus in American history, larger than his $814 billion 2009 stimulus package. It will pump a Trillion borrowed Chinese dollars into the U.S. economy over the next two years - which just happen to be the two years of the run-up to the next Presidential Election. This is a defeat? This Story Swindle of the year Democrats ...

Do Jobless Benefits Raise Unemployment?
For Democrats, the timing was awkward. On Dec. 7, the morning after President Barack Obama announced a tax-and-spending deal with congressional Republicans that will extend Unemployment Benefits for another 13 months, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that there were 3.4 million job openings as of the end of October. In other words, millions of jobs are going unfilled at the same time that millions of out-of-work Americans are getting checks for being unemployed. That's red meat for free...

Obama Risks Alienating Liberals Over Tax Deal
The next month will go a long way toward defining President Obama's relationship with Capitol Hill and indicating whether there will be progress or stalemate on a wide range of issues facing the country. So far, the signs are not very promising. Obama's meeting with congressional leaders last week seemed cordial enough, according to participants who talked to the media afterward. But there were no concrete agreements on how to proceed on a variety of hot-button concerns, including how to reduc...

Friday Throwdown: Obama on taxes: Cave-in or compromise?
President Barack Obama this week announced a tax Compromise struck with GOP leaders in the Congress that would keep intact the Bush-era Tax Rates for two years at the same time Unemployment Benefits are extended by 13 months for long-term recipients. The deal left many in Obama’s party stunned. In a Caucus Thursday, Democrat members of the House voted not to take up the deal in its current form. U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano called it a ‘poor compromise,’ in an e-mail to supporter...

Rand Paul: Im leaning against the tax compromise
Posted by Jennifer Caballero on Dec 9 2010 Filed under Economy, News & Opinion, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry Is this a sign of things to come? Rand Paul says what he has heard about this tax Compromise among GOP leaders and Obama leaves him worried about the spending attached when it comes to the Estate Tax and a continuation of Unemployment Benefits. He told Wolf Blitzer in an interview, as o...

Items added to tax cut bill to draw support
WASHINGTON — As Democrats in Congress battled in public over a proposal to extend Bush-era Income Tax cuts, a group of Democratic lawmakers are pushing to make subtle changes to help sweeten the pot. The agreement worked out between President Obama and Republican lawmakers would extend the expiring cuts for all Taxpayers for two years, continue jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and cut Social Security Payroll taxes next year. Many Democrats have balked at the Compromise, particu...

Circling the Toilet Bowl
From Michelle Malkin Small-Biz Killers: Who Pays for Jobless Benefits? Today’s column takes a closer look at how small businesses are getting whacked by skyrocketing Unemployment Insurance tax hikes across the country. Friends of mine here in Colorado Springs first alerted me to their massive bills, which have arrived over the past two weeks. Business owners from several other states have written me with similar horror stories — and I’ve included some of their experiences below. It’

More on the Tax Deal
Thu Dec. 9, 2010 6:37 PM PST This is going to be unbearably wonky, so I apologize in advance. But I was thinking some more about Paul Krugman's contention that Obama's tax Compromise plan might hurt his Reelection chances rather than help them. He bases this on two things. First, Mark Zandi's economic forecast suggests that the tax plan will improve GDP growth in 2011 but reduce it in 2012 (compared to a baseline forecast). Second, Larry Bartels has shown that voters are myopic: they pay far mo...

Democrats defy Obama, oppose tax deal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Angry Democrats in the House of Representatives defied President Barack Obama on Thursday and rejected a deal he struck with Republicans to extend low Tax Rates that are set to expire in three weeks. While unlikely on its own to derail the tax plan, the House Democrats' rebellion gives Obama another political Headache just over a month after he took a beating in mid-term Elections. In a raucous, closed-door meeting on Capitol Hill, mutinous Democrats chanted "Just say no!"...