I struggle to find the compromise on tax cuts

[GoodWitch58]

the political world is surely over the edge: I just heard that Jim DeMint (R:SC) and Bernie Sanders (Ind.Socialist:Vt) are both against the compromise!

 

[BeachSiO2]

Here's where I'm lost. The House passes a tax break for under $250k only. Then, the Senate votes on a 250k only break- it fails, then the Schumer plan which is for under a million- it fails too. Then, its the presidents fault for negotiating a break for everyone that includes unemployment for 13 months and extra "goodies" and now he has sacrificed babies. As Axelrod pointed out, if the Senate Dems would have passed the 250k break or the 1mil break it would be a non-issue but the President had to salvage the vote. At the end of the day, Pelosi and Palin are both upset so it must be a good thing for middle America since they are the far right and far left.

 

[BeachSiO2]

the political world is surely over the edge: I just heard that Jim DeMint (R:SC) and Bernie Sanders (Ind.Socialist:Vt) are both against the compromise!

They are. So are Palin and Pelosi- so it must be ok.

 

[BeachSiO2]

Excellent. Washington doing nothing is better than washington doing, well, pretty much anything.

I don't disagree as the opposite of "Pro-"gress would be.....

 

[Lake View Too]

Here's where I'm lost. The House passes a tax break for under $250k only. Then, the Senate votes on a 250k only break- it fails, then the Schumer plan which is for under a million- it fails too. Then, its the presidents fault for negotiating a break for everyone that includes unemployment for 13 months and extra "goodies" and now he has sacrificed babies. As Axelrod pointed out, if the Senate Dems would have passed the 250k break or the 1mil break it would be a non-issue but the President had to salvage the vote. At the end of the day, Pelosi and Palin are both upset so it must be a good thing for middle America since they are the far right and far left.

I agree with you completely. These hot-headed Dems. seem to think that huffing and puffing are going to get a tax-break for the middle class (only) passed. I don't think so. Barack is taking so much heat for just being level-headed and pragmatic. All the pundits want some kind of drama and last-minute salvation of the liberal dream. It doesn't happen that way. The unfortunate thing is the resounding sound of kicking the deficit can down the street.

 

[BeachSiO2]

At least the House Dems got the DREAM Act pass let's see if they can support the high income tax break+estate tax change AND then switch the focus to supporting immigrants on the DREAM act. I see a little somke and mirrors forthcoming....

 

[idlewind]

That is the biggest load of BS I have seen on this board in some time.

It certainly isn't a 'right' to be hired for a particular position, but it is definitely a 'right' in our pursuit of life and liberty to have a job. I am sure that some members on this board think it would be a privilege to work for them, but I have a feeling that the word 'nightmare' could easily and more realistically be substituted in those instances. :roll:

ps. I didn't mean you Margarita!

As Americans we all have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. This statement guarantees opportunity, not outcome. You have a right to live, to pursue your interests and gather your resources and make your best effort to accomplish your goals. As an individual I have the right to get an education in my chosen field, gain whatever experience I can and apply for any job I desire. But there is no guarantee that anyone will hire me. Someone else may be better educated, have more experience or the employer may just like them better. You have a right to dream, not expect those dreams to be positively fulfilled.

 

[Mango]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/08/business/economy/08leonhardt.html


Will the extremists/purists in congress try and kill this bipartisan deal, or will the "middle of the road" centrists prevail? Time will tell.

I quoted your quote:

Tellingly, economists and Democratic policy experts were largely pleased with the deal. Forecasting firms on Tuesday upgraded their estimates for growth and job gains over the next two years. Economists at Goldman Sachs, who have been more negative and more accurate than most Wall Street forecasters lately, called the deal ?significantly more positive? than they had anticipated.

And left-leaning policy experts said the package did more to create jobs than they had thought possible after the Republicans? midterm election victories. Robert Greenstein, Lawrence Mishel and John Podesta? who run prominent Washington research groups that range from liberal to staunchly liberal ? all offered praise for the package. Of its estimated $900 billion-plus cost over two years, roughly $120 billion covers the high-end tax cuts and the estate tax cut, $450 billion covers Mr. Obama?s wish list and $360 billion covers the tax cut extensions both parties favored.

I don't know what drudge wrote this at the Times, but what rock has he/she been sleeping under? Most Economists feel the only way to start working on reducing our deficit is to raise taxes across the Board. Secondly, it's laughable at this point in time of history that anyone with even half a brain would listen to what Goldman Saks economists have to say. Can we even call them economists? I call them bought henchmen for the GOP. There's not one shred of evidence that the Bush Tax cuts have done anything to stimulate the economy or add jobs.

The non-partisan Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reports, based upon data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment growth was particularly weak, ?with employment and wage and salary growth ? lower than in any previous post-World War II expansion. Employment grew at an average annual rate of only 0.9 percent from November 2001 to September 2007, as compared with an average of 2.5 percent for the comparable periods of other post-World War II expansions. In addition, real wages and salaries grew at a 1.8 percent average annual rate in the 2001-2007 expansion, as compared with a 3.8 percent average annual rate for the comparable periods of other post-World War II expansions.?

The Bush tax cuts were simply tax gimmicks to win support. Even the second round of tax cuts in 2003 on dividends and cap gains did nothing to stimulate the economy.

And, I not against extending unemployment benefits, but we already extended them enough and that still hasn't shown any growth. The only growth we will see from that is now Tea Party Tom, who is collecting benefits, has more ammunition to complain about how Obama is turning us into a Socialist Country.

We should be raising taxes and if we were smart, use it intelligently to invest in jobs; we may have a fighting chance.

IMHO, Obama caved for political reasons. We will see a modest drop in unemployment and in 2012, Obama looks good to the middle class because he tried to help the little guy with extended benefits; and when we and our kids are all eating our own droppings, the GOP will take the blame for our still rotten economy.

and @ Margarita: Just curious why NOW you decided you need to hire 2 more people, and not last year or the year before, or the year before that?? Our economy is not that much better than those previous years we had the Bush tax cuts in place. I'm not being snarky. Maybe you can enlighten me.

 

[30ashopper]

I think one of our core problems right now is the financial health of consumers. You can try and correct that with a $400 tax credit and manufacturing jobs by spending on government projects, or you can hit the problem head on by injecting cash into people's pockets. I really don't think the 2008 stimulus was very effective, this is a different approach. I wish we had taken this approach back in 2008. Time will tell I guess.

I'll agree though, this is fiscally irresponsible and the added debt will have an impact on growth. It would be wonderful if we could both inject cash into pockets and not add debt, but the way washington is balanced right now that just doesn't seem possible.

 

[Matt J]

How does putting money in consumers pockets so they can buy Chinese made plastic crap help our economy again?