The tax cut deal. I got my hope and change.
If you scour the archives of this blog, you’ll find mentions of the Bush Tax Cuts throughout. I’ve been wringing my hands about the impending expiration for years. And it’s not because I’m rich. Many of you know that I bought my first house last year after decades of wandering around the world with my family in tow. I bought the house, paid cash, with the money I’d saved over the last decade from the Bush Tax Cut so you can understand why I’m so enamored with the concept.
Last night the president announced that he’s struck a deal with Republicans to extend the Bush-era tax policy. That and he’s going to roll back Social Security taxes…yeah, keep goin’, buddy. You can cut even more, ya know. My wife had to quit working three years ago because she was earning just enough to pay our taxes – it hardly seemed worth her twelve-hour shifts at Walter Reed for her to continue.
But anyway, COB6 sends us a link from the Daily Kos in which the baboons over there threaten to leave the Obama Train (read the comments). COB6 writes; “That’s just the sound of heads ‘sploding” in the Democrat Party.
There was no way the Democrats were going to let the Bush Tax Cuts become the Obama Tax Hike. If the cuts had expired, everyone in the country was suddenly going to realize that the Bush Tax Cuts weren’t just “tax cuts for the rich”. Families in the lowest bracket were going to pay taxes for the first time or see their taxes increase by 50%. That’s just a little too much reality for the Democrat voters.
But, yeah, Obama isn’t the president Democrats voted for in 2008. He promised to get us out of the wars, close Guantanamo, tax “the rich”…ain’t none of that shit happened. I’m not complaining, I’m just pointing out that’s not the Hope and Change Democrats voted for…it’s the Hope and Change that Republicans voted for.
Category: Barack Obama/Joe Biden
well said.
Jonn,
You’ve heard it all before, from me. My “friends” all claimed I was lying when I said the tax cuts expiring was going to impact them. (For a long time, I think they viewed me as “wealthy” because I saved money to be able to go on a ten day ski honeymoon to Austria, yearly, with my husband.)
Every year, the AMT killed us, not to mention having to make estimated payments. These increases would have sent us into bankruptcy. I am not kidding. We now owe Uncle because of a tax position we took in 2007. We are making 1/3 of what we were, but we’re making it.
I asked the friends to take a look at what the government has reaped from them via the Social security statement you get, yearly. I asked them to take that amount of money and multiply by a modest amount of 4% over their working life to present to see what kind of return they could have gotten if they were allowed to invest their own money. Out of 6 people, only one did it.
Surprise! They now “get it!” He gets that the money will not be there when he retires, and that it has been pissed away, never to be seen again.
And yes, Paul Krugman’s head is ‘sploding, because, according to him, Republicans have blackmailed the President!!
Oh yeah. Hope and Change.
Let the weepin’ and the wailin’ begin …
oh my goodness. some of my kids go to the most conservative public schools in the country- and yet every single day I spend the afternoon explaining why the country isn’t going to “lose” money with the tax policy, why the poor sweet chinese guy doesn’t really just want to “serve his country” and on and on
Is it really possible to use “conservative” and “public schools” in the same sentence? Most of the public school teachers I have known were so liberal that I couldn’t get past ‘good morning’ and the weather before we started to argue about something! 🙂
Obama knew taxes would go up on everyone. So did the Democrats. They knew if in fact they did next month, it REALLY would have screwed them come 2012.
All they did was as most politicians do–simply punt the ball down the road to let someone else deal with it. That’s why they capitulated on extending tax cuts–because they knew their talking point was bullshit and it was about to be exposed.
PN, there are some undercover conservatives amongst the liberal eggheads out there. They have to keep vewy vewy quiet about it, NEA and various state versions, like the MEA out there, but they’re there.
Of course, there are some, most?, who are so liberal/dense, they make fence posts look rational.
I had to tease a little, UpNorth, but of course I know you are correct!