Tea Party Types and GOP: Explain this to me

[30ashopper]

A) Republicans will not agree to $18B for an extension to unemployment benefits because it isn't paid for/will add to the deficit.

B) Republicans are blocking all legislation unless Dems agree to an extension of Bush tax cuts for the rich which amounts to $700B (which wouldn't be paid for/would add to the deficit).

$18B added to the deficit to help people meet their basic needs is problematic but $700B added to the deficit to help the nation's wealthiest get a few extra percentage points on their financial statement isn't problematic?

Tea Party and GOP:
are u fricking serious?

Wake up America.

You're massaging statistics. The 700 billion number is an estimate based on total cost over ten years, the 18 billion number is for a year. I don't know about the accuracy of the unemployment figure, but the 700B figure is likely over estimated and more likely to be around 20-30 billion per year.

Another interesting data point, extending the Bush tax cuts for the lower and middle classes (hey wait, what? Bush gave tax cuts to the poor and middle class? really? But I thought... the democrats said, oh never mind...) would likely cost around 160 billion a year. (160 / 18 = 8.8? woah!)

So you know, whatever. I think the dems and reps should try to balance it out. Short term unemployment payments, extending the tax cuts, which ever. We could also fund this spending by trimming a couple hundred billion from the defense budget, or killing a couple boondoggles like the department of education. One thing we know for sure, all of these expenditures will help the economic recovery in some way or another, cutting any may hurt. So take your pick.

Which course of action would you take?

 

[AndrewG]

99 weeks of unemployment benefits adding to the deficit is taking us in the wrong direction. We are becoming a floundering EU from debt.

Tax cuts is going to get our economy back on track not handouts to the poor. Obamas stimulus was the biggest waste in our nations history. Step aside and let us fix the problem.

 

[Matt J]

99 weeks of unemployment benefits adding to the deficit is taking us in the wrong direction. We are becoming a floundering EU from debt.

Tax cuts is going to get our economy back on track not handouts to the poor. Obamas stimulus was the biggest waste in our nations history. Step aside and let us fix the problem.

So 700 billion of stimulus spending bad.

700 billion of people possibly spending good.

You keep insisting that if people get tax cuts they'll spend the money, but you forget that they might also do something crazy like save it or use it to pay down credit cards.

 

[idlewind]

So 700 billion of stimulus spending bad.

700 billion of people possibly spending good.

You keep insisting that if people get tax cuts they'll spend the money, but you forget that they might also do something crazy like save it or use it to pay down credit cards.

Saving and paying down personal debt are good things for the long-term. There is a huge difference between spending 700 billion in one year and not taking 700 billion from the taxpayers over a 10 year period.

 

[Geo]

Thanks for showing up
to discuss.

It seems I messed up by saying $700B because as a few of you stated- that is not the cost of the tax cuts for a year. I apologize for not comparing apples to apples.

Pls come clean on your own inaccurate date. Idlewind, you said letting tax cuts expire would cost a family making 80K about $400 per month. The data I am seeing from the CBO says letting them expire would cost households making less than 200k an average of $1100 for a whole year.

Annual cost of all Bush tax cuts if extended for 2011
is $238B.

 

[Geo]

AndrewG,

It is unreasonable for
you to insist that extending tax cuts that cost $238B a year will fix the economy. I can prove this to you. How?Take a look at what the economy did during the years of the same tax cuts you want to extend. Now take a look at the economy during the mid to late nineties when taxes were higher.

 

[30ashopper]

Thanks for showing up
to discuss.

It seems I messed up by saying $700B because as a few of you stated- that is not the cost of the tax cuts for a year. I apologize for not comparing apples to apples.

Pls come clean on your own inaccurate date. Idlewind, you said letting tax cuts expire would cost a family making 80K about $400 per month. The data I am seeing from the CBO says letting them expire would cost households making less than 200k an average of $1100 for a whole year.

Annual cost of all Bush tax cuts if extended for 2011
is $238B.

Where did you find that Geo? I've been looking for annual break downs but haven't found anything "official".

 

[30ashopper]

So 700 billion of stimulus spending bad.

700 billion of people possibly spending good.

You keep insisting that if people get tax cuts they'll spend the money, but you forget that they might also do something crazy like save it or use it to pay down credit cards.

Bowles-Simpson not only extends the Bush cuts, it adds a payroll tax holidy in 2011. And it still manages to bring the debt as a percentage of GDP way down over the long term. I say we adopt the plan.

 

[Geo]

Here you go, friend.

GOP plan to extend tax cuts for rich adds $36 billion to deficit, panel finds

 

[30ashopper]

Here you go, friend.

GOP plan to extend tax cuts for rich adds $36 billion to deficit, panel finds

Wow, so my figures on the low and middle income cuts were off, I had 30-50 billion per year on the upper income cuts and 160 billion on the other cuts.

So dems want extensions that add $202 billion.
Reps want extensions that add $238 billion.

Which just drives the point home the differences between the two parties are pretty minor overall - they both want to act fiscally irresponsible.