Obama’s proposed extension of the Bush tax cuts is costly, but can be followed with real revenue-raising tax reforms
on November 11th, 2012 at 6:00 am
Opinion by Citizens for Tax Justice
Arguing that it would create certainty as he undertakes negotiations over the year-end fiscal cliff, today President Obama called on Congress to extend for another year most of the Bush-era tax cuts scheduled to expire at the end of this year under current law. He noted that such a bill has already been approved by the Senate and only needs the approval of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.
“Deficit reduction is getting off to a terrible start, when the President’s opening offer to Republicans is a huge tax cut that will add $250 billion or more to federal borrowing in 2013 alone,” said Bob McIntyre, director of Citizens for Tax Justice.
Under the President’s approach, 78 percent of the cost of the Bush tax cuts would be extended through 2013, which is far too much. The Senate bill that the President has endorsed would extend for one year the Bush income tax cuts for the first $250,000 a married couple makes and the first $200,000 a single taxpayer makes. Most people don’t realize that this would allow taxpayers who make as much as half a million dollars a year to keep most of their Bush income tax cuts.
But Obama’s approach is certainly superior to the approach advocated by the Republican-led House, which would extend the tax cuts for all income levels, including the very richest Americans.
As the President said during his remarks today, voters want progressive revenue increases. Exit polls show that 60 percent of voters want taxes to go up for the people making over $250,000. An election night poll from Hart Research found that 62 percent of voters were sending a message that we should “make sure the wealthy start paying their fair share of taxes.”
If President Obama caves to the demand of House Speaker John Boehner that Bush-era income tax rate reductions must be extended even for the richest Americans, the President will have given up the enormous leverage he has gained following the election, and will have ignored the clear mandate the voters gave him to end tax cuts for the rich.
