Democrats Awaken From Coma. Briefly Flex Biceps.
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| GOP and their enablers blur the truth about Bush tax cuts into a clear set of craven lies. |
House Democrats Are Revolting.Yes, revolting. Not as in disgusting, but as in renouncing. For example, here’s Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio’s pithy summation of Thursday’s Democratic caucus vote against accepting Obama’s “compromise” tax deal: “[The White House] said ‘take it or leave it.’ We left it.” Some Democrats are flexing their muscles. Whether this caucus vote results in more than a mere show of biceps still remains questionable, of course’ as the old reliable Ralph Nader commented last night, all this may be “temporary spine,” or as Hullabaloo’s Digby often observes, “Is this just more Kabuki theatre?”
Yet, the House Democrats’ nearly unanimous, though non-binding, “No!” vote at their closed-door caucus meeting will likely usher in a raucus finale to the lame duck session, for Republicans and President Obama, the presumed leader of his now suddenly rambuntious House Dems. As DeFazio observed, “We have just reconfigured this discussion.” Reconfigured. In practical terms, the caucus vote yesterday implicitly threatens that Speaker Pelosi will not allow a vote on the Obama-GnoP tax proposal in the House after the Senate approves it. That’s the power of the Speaker.
Moreover, the House, after all, passed its own tax cut renewal bill a week ago 240-188. It provides a permanent extension of the Bush cuts in low and middle class tax rates (income less than $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for families) [See House bill text here]. The Senate knows this. The President knows this. They know there is an alternative plan. The American people do not appear to know this, due to a terribly skewed journalistic narrative brought on by the Democrats spineless failure to aggressively explain themselves. It’s a Hail Mary pass as to whether there is time in the remainder of the lame duck session to reverse a story nearly accepted as common knowledge.
And it may very well force the GnoP and the Obama administration to parlay some more.
+++ “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”
“stop worrying about the tax code and start worrying about job growth.”
the richest are now only being taxes at an effective rate of 16.5%
+++ Amazing Forbes:
Almost all of America’s wealthiest citizens are poorer this year.
America’s super rich are getting poorer. For only the fifth time since 1982, the collective net worth of The Forbes 400, our annual tally of the nation’s richest people, has declined, falling $300 billion in the past 12 months from $1.57 trillion to $1.27 trillion.
Faltering capital markets and real estate prices, along with divorce and fraud, pushed the fortunes of 314 members down and drove 32 plutocrats off the rankings.
Analyses from the Joint Committee on Taxation and the Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan research organization, show that less than 3 percent of filers with small-business income pay at the top two income tax rates, and many of those are doctors and lawyers in partnerships. Also, most small businesses
The provision permanently extends the 10-percent, 15-percent, 25-percent and 28-percent individual income tax rates. For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2010, the 33-percent rate bracket becomes the 33-percent (as described below) and 36-percent rate bracketsand the 35-percent rate bracket becomes the 39.6-percent rate bracket.
For single individuals, the 33-percent rate remains in effect for taxable incomes of less than $193,800 in 2011 ($200,000 of adjusted gross income (“AGI”) indexed from 2009, less one personal exemption ($3,700) and the basic standard deduction ($5,800)).
For married individuals filing joint returns and surviving spouses, the 33-percent rate remains in effect for taxable incomes of less than $235,150 in 2011 ($250,000 of AGI indexed from 2009, less two personal exemptions ($7,400) and the basic standard deduction ($11,600)).
For married individuals filing a separate return, the amount is one-half the amount applicable to joint returns.
For heads of household, the 33-percent rate bracket becomes the 36-percent rate bracket.
The rate structure is indexed for inflation.
