Fiscal Deal: Tax Hikes, Green Pork, Stimulus, Oh My

[Valin]

Red State:

Daniel Horowitz

December 31st, 2012

 

Surprise surprise, they have a deal to avoid the politicians’ cliff. Who didn’t see that coming?

 

Here’s an enigmatic riddle for you: what happens when Republicans publicly obsess about the degree of tax increases they are willing to accept without a commensurate demand for spending cuts? You get tax hikes and no spending cuts! In fact, we will spend even more as a result of this deal. Haven’t we seen this rodeo a gazzilion times?

 

As if on cue, negotiators have agreed to raise the top income tax rate from 35% to 39.6% on individuals earning more than $400,000 and married filers earning above $450,000. They will also see their dividends and CapGains tax rates go up to 20%. In addition, the Death Tax, which should be completely abolished, will increase from 35% to 40% on all assets above $5.12 million. There will be a permanent AMT patch as well, as if there already wasn’t one anyway.

 

What about the spending side? Here are the spending increases:

 

A $30 billion one-year extension of Medicare doc fix

A $30 billion one-year extension of 73 week unemployment insurance. Over the past four years, the federal government has collected roughly $192 billion in federal unemployment payroll taxes, while paying out $510 billion in benefits. Evidently, that’s not good enough.

Stimulus Refundable Tax Credits: Somehow, a 5-year extension of Obama’s stimulus refundable tax credits got inserted into the deal. So he calls a tax cut a handout, and a handout a tax cut. These latter three provisions alone will easily top $100 billion a year, dwarfing the $50-$60 billion in static revenue projections from the tax cuts on the rich. So much for a balanced approach.

Green Energy Pork: The irony is that while the rich earned every penny of their money, Obama refers to the current system – one in which the top 1% pay 37% of the taxes – as a handout to the rich. Yet, this deal extends a true handout, the 2.2 cent per kilowatt/hour wind Production Tax Credit. This is a refundable credit that can be claimed by any wind company that fails to generate a profit, of which there are many. In addition, all special interest credits passed out of the Senate Finance Committee – the real loopholes in the tax code – are included in the deal.

 

Of course, nothing is being done about the 5 major Obamacare tax hikes that are set to take effect this week, including the deleterious 2.3% tax on all medical devices, the millionaires’ surtax, and the 0.9% increase of the Medicare payroll tax. It’s absolutely stupefying that Republicans couldn’t use this as a leverage point, after 16 Democrat senators, including Al Franken, wrote a letter requesting a delay in the implementation of this tax.

 

(Snip)

 

 

Read on...it just gets better......

 

 

This bill may or may not be voted on in trhe house today.

[Draggingtree]

RedState:

 

Senate passes Obama’s fiscal cliff tax increases in dead of night

 

 

By: Dan Spencer (Diary) | January 1st, 2013 at 06:52 AM | 9

 

RESIZE: AAA

 

In a move all too reminiscent of the passage of the ever unpopular ObamaCare, last night the Senate voted 89 to 8 to approve the so-called “American Taxpayer Relief Act” (H.R. 8, as amended). The deal was negotiated by Vice President Joseph Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.

 

You can read the 157 page bill here. It is very unlikely that any Senator actually read the 157 page bill before they voted on it. It’s like

of the Democrats’ ObamaCare bill, “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it.”

 

The eight Senators who voted against this tax increase included five Republicans and three Democrats:

• Bennett D-CO
  
• Carper D-DE
  
• Grassley R-IA
  
• Harkin D-IA
  
• Lee R-UT
  
• Paul R-KY
  
• Rubio R-FL
  
• Shelby R-AL.
  

That leaves a lot of Senators who violated their pledge not to raise taxes.

[Draggingtree]

Speaker Boehner Finally Makes A Dignified Move & Dismisses House Without A Vote

 

By: westcoastpatriette (Diary) | December 31st, 2012 at 07:47 PM |

Finally, Speaker Boehner shows some courage and, basically, tells President Obama and Senator Reid to go play with themselves until they decide to get serious about the nation’s quandary. In a surprising but appropriate move, Boehner sent the House home before the Senate finished putting together yet another raise taxes/spend more/cut nothing rip off bill — signaling the House’s willingness to go over the cliff rather then bend over again for the irresponsible, greedy, arrogant Democrats

This is going to be an interesting Congressional session as we watch Obama continue to arrogantly overreach and sabotage a working relationship with Republicans.

His hubris continues to blind him to just how offensive his little tantrums are

http://www.redstate.com/westcoastpatriette/2012/12/31/speaker-boehner-finally-makes-a-dignified-move-dismisses-house-without-a-vote/

[clearvision]

160 pages have to contain a lot of crap.

[clearvision]

"But because those policies expired at midnight Monday, the measure is officially scored as a whopping $3.9 trillion tax cut over the next decade."

 

It is a tax cut!

[Draggingtree]

"But because those policies expired at midnight Monday, the measure is officially scored as a whopping $3.9 trillion tax cut over the next decade."

 

It is a tax cut!

I hope enough house members stand up and vote the bill down, we will see as the house is coming into session @ 11 am CDT.

[Draggingtree]

"But because those policies expired at midnight Monday, the measure is officially scored as a whopping $3.9 trillion tax cut over the next decade."

 

It is a tax cut!

I hope enough house members stand up and vote the bill down, we will see as the house is coming into session @ 11 am CDT.

Senate fiscal proposal: $620B in tax hikes, $15B in spending cuts

 

 

by | January 01, 2013

 

While senators were aiming for an early morning vote on their in-the-works fiscal deal, calculations from congressional number-crunchers quickly raised questions about how House Republicans would take it.

 

In short, according to rough calculations forwarded by a source close to the talks, the proposal would include $620 billion in new tax hikes and $15 billion in net spending cuts.

 

That kind of lopsided ratio could turn off House conservatives, presuming the bill clears the Senate.

 

One Republican predicted House leaders may only be able to attract 70 Republicans

Read more: http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2013/01/01/senate-fiscal-proposal-620b-tax-hikes-15b-spending-cuts#ixzz2GkE2b1s1

[Draggingtree]

It's up to the House: fiscal cliff faces Republican-controlled territory

By Josh Levs and Ed Payne, CNN

updated 11:49 AM EST, Tue January 1, 2013

As the fiscal cliff looms, what's your New Year's message to Washington? Go to CNN iReport to share your video.

(CNN) -- If a Senate deal to avert the fiscal cliff becomes law, all but a sliver of the U.S. population will avoid higher tax rates, some key issues will be put off for two months, and all sides in the battle will emerge with a mixed record: winning key points, while ceding ground on others.

The deal, which passed the Democratic-controlled Senate in an overwhelming 89-8 vote in the middle of the night, would maintain tax cuts for individuals earning less than $400,000 and couples earning less than $450,000. Technically, it would reinstate cuts that expired at midnight.

The bill faces an uncertain future in the Republican-controlled House. The House Republican Conference plans to meet at 1 p.m., two aides told CNN.

A decision about whether to vote Tuesday would likely follow that meeting.

Some GOP lawmakers, including Reps. Phil Gingrey of Georgia and Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, told CNN they won't support http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/01/politics/fiscal-cliff/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[clearvision]

Unless they stop it from coming up to a vote it will likely pass.

[Draggingtree]

Unless they stop it from coming up to a vote it will likely pass.

[Draggingtree]

Penetration, However Slight

Posted on | January 1, 2013 | 4 Comments and 0 Reactions

by Smitty

Legal Insurrection

The bill raised taxes by over $600 billion, in addition to Obamacare taxes already coming on line, yet the Senators can claim it was a massive tax cut because the vote took place after midnight, so technically the Bush tax cuts already had expired.

Oh, Senator Warner, you’ll be facing some questions come 2014, sir.

Update: and Moe Lane says Virginia is ‘low risk’. Well, we’re just going to have to set about changing that, then.

H/T Smitty @ http://theothermccain.com/2013/01/01/penetration-however-slight/ for this post

[clearvision]

Merged as getting confusing.

[Draggingtree]

Legal Insurrection:

 

 

Time for House to call a Time Out — pass Plan C

 

Posted by William A. Jacobson Tuesday, January 1, 2013 at 11:37am

We have seen this movie before. A contrived crisis causes a rush to a vote before any legislator or the public has time to read and understand a bill which will have a profound effect on the nation for years if not decades.

That’s what happened in the middle of the night early this morning.

The choice presented was handing Obama what his aides are calling the single biggest policy achievement in decades — breaking Republicans’ tax rate pledge — or raising taxes on the “middle class.”

Rather than raising revenue through economic growth, revenue will be raised through growth of marginal tax rates. Of course, the “rich” (many of whom are your local business owners and professionals) will change their habits because when you add up higher marginal rates, caps on deductions, Medicare taxes, and state income taxes, that last marginal dollar is becoming hardly worth earning.

The headline a year from now will be that the tax increases on the “rich” did not generate the expected revenue. Obama has positioned the debate so that the answer to the tax revenue shortfall will be more taxes. That is his great achievement.

This fiasco is the product of a false choice between “going off the cliff” or tax increases without spending cuts or entitlement reform.

I saw this coming when I proposed on December 6, and repeatedly since then, the Christmas Plan (aka Plan C):

[Valin]

Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) Gets It!!!

 

Dem Senator Voted Against Deal Because It Doesn’t Reduce Deficit

Bridget Johnson

1/1/13

 

A Colorado Democrat handpicked by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to helm the party’s 2014 campaign effort was one of the eight “no” votes against the fiscal cliff deal last night.

 

(Snip)

 

“Washington once again has lived up to its reputation as the ‘Land of Flickering Lights,’” Bennet said. “For four years in my townhall meetings across the state Coloradans have told me they want a plan that materially reduces the deficit. This proposal does not meet that standard and does not put in place a real process to reduce the debt down the road.”

 

(Snip)

 

Before coming to the Senate, Bennet’s experience included six years restructuring debt as managing director for Anschutz Investment Company, a firm of conservative tycoon Phil Anschutz.

[Draggingtree]

House Session

 

Jan 1, 2013

The House met in a rare New Year’s Day session of the lame-duck 112th Congress to consider tax legislation to avoid the “fiscal cliff” of increased tax rates and automatic spending cuts.

 

Michele Bachmann talking about the Senate bill and the President order giving pay raises about 43:30 time in the video

http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/HouseSession5380

[Rheo]

House Republicans blast Senate 'cliff' bill

snips

 

"So we find ourselves again with a bill that reflects not financial wisdom, but the seductive spirit that pervades this town," Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va.) said.

"Leaders in Washington continue to over-promise. They're likes salespeople who tell their customer they can have an $30,000 car but only pay $18,000 for it. Who doesn't like that deal?"

 

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said the Senate bill only allows the government to continue its debt spending spree.

"We're taking up a bill that will not do anything to cut spending. I'm embarrassed for this generation," he said.

 

House Government Reform and Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said he was disappointed in the deal, but indicated he would vote for it.

"I wish I could say this was a proud moment," Issa said. "It isn't. We're kicking the can down the road.

"I may vote for what comes on the floor … but I tell you, I won't do it thinking we've accomplished anything here today, other than the smallest finger in a dike that in fact has hundreds of holes in it."

 

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) sharply criticized the Senate for so quickly approving these changes in the dead of night, just after the new year was rung in.

"The Senate boasts it is America's deliberative body. Today, that claim rings hollow," Brooks said.

"The House must postpone this vote until Congress and the American people have time to study and evaluate this extraordinarily complex legislation, and its impact on taxes, revenue, the economy, our debt and a myriad of other issues."

 

Brooks also said he would vote against the Senate bill if it came up for a vote.

"I will not condone with my vote a process that denies the American people an opportunity to participate in their republic on issues of this magnitude," he said.

 

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) suggested that the Congress should join "Spending Anonymous." He suggested a 12-step program starting with an admission that Congress is "addicted to spending someone else's money," and ending with the creation of a support group that meets regularly "to confess our addiction."

[Draggingtree]

Group: Boehner Can't Get Majority of GOP to Back Deal

by Matthew Boyle31 Dec 2012

American Majority Action, the conservative group that’s leading the charge against House Speaker John Boehner continuing in his current position, said Monday evening that Boehner doesn’t have at least 50 percent of his House GOP members’ support for the fiscal cliff deal that Senate leaders and the White House have reportedly cut.

 

The deal, between Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Vice President Joe Biden, reportedly raises spending and hikes taxes on all Americans making more than $450,000. According to AMA, it raises spending by delaying sequester budget cuts.

In an email to reporters late Monday, AMA spokesman Ron Meyer said he’s “heard directly from senior GOP conservative members in the House that Speaker Boehner does not have a majority of support from the GOP caucus--not even close.”

“These sources tell me Boehner has indicated he won't bring up a plan without 50% GOP support,” Meyer said. “The McConnell-Biden compromise does not meet that threshold.”

AMA was out in front in accurately predicting the failure of Boehner’s fiscal cliff “Plan B”

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/12/31/GROUP-Boehner-doesn-t-have-support-of-at-least-50-percent-of-House-GOP-members-on-McConnell-Biden-fiscal-cliff-deal

[Rheo]

Bret Baier ‏@BretBaier

Caucus meetings on GOP and Dem side in the House wrapping up-and talk of some R's proposing to amend Senate bill-which would send it back!

[Draggingtree]

Boehner's 100 loyal soldiers might give him political cover on 'cliff'

By Bob Cusack - 01/01/13 11:57 AM ET

Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) has about 100 Republican members he can count on if and when the Senate-passed "fiscal-cliff" bill hits the House floor, according to an analysis by The Hill.

But it remains unclear if Boehner and his lieutenants will be able to convince the majority of the GOP Conference to back legislation that increases tax rates on the wealthy and lacks significant spending cuts. The Senate passed its fiscal-cliff bill, 89-8, early on New Year's Day.

Boehner has not expressed opposition or support for the Senate legislation.

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/275087-boehners-100-loyal-soldiers-might-give-him-political-cover-on-fiscal-cliff

[Rheo]

CNBC ‏@CNBC

ALERT - Congressional Budget Office: Fiscal cliff bill passed by Senate would add $3.967T to the national deficit over the next 10 years.

[Draggingtree]

Obama Has His Revenue. Time for Republicans to Step Up or Get Out.

 

By: Ben Howe (Diary) | January 1st, 2013 at 02:17 PM

Most of my morning has been spent listening to the two camps on twitter and in the news. Half say we got a bad deal in the Fiscal Cliff debate. The other half say we got the best we could and should be happy with the concessions we extracted from the Democrats.

From the beginning, this negotiation has been a mess. Every day we were hearing new details and new proposals, meanwhile, President Obama’s involvement was relaxed to say the least.

Obama’s hands off approach did not go unnoticed and is instructive as to how to approach upcoming battles with his agenda.

“Nothing illustrates the President’s fecklessness in this debate quite as much as the press conference he gave yesterday at the White House,” said one Republican close to the discussions of recent weeks. “While the vice president was working the phones trying to get something done, Obama was standing in front of the cameras, surrounded by a fawning crowd and doing what he enjoys most — sermonizing to a captive audience.”

So thanks to one of the two elected members of the Executive Branch, a deal seems to be inevitable and it has caused a range of emotions across the spectrum. Even the very Senators that voted in favor of the deal seem torn. A Senate Republican aide tells me that “Nobody who voted for this bill is happy about seeing taxes go up on anybody,

http://www.redstate.com/2013/01/01/obama-has-his-revenue-time-for-republicans-to-step-up-or-get-out/

[Draggingtree]

House Republicans blast Senate 'cliff' bill

snips

 

"So we find ourselves again with a bill that reflects not financial wisdom, but the seductive spirit that pervades this town," Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va.) said.

"Leaders in Washington continue to over-promise. They're likes salespeople who tell their customer they can have an $30,000 car but only pay $18,000 for it. Who doesn't like that deal?"

 

Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) said the Senate bill only allows the government to continue its debt spending spree.

"We're taking up a bill that will not do anything to cut spending. I'm embarrassed for this generation," he said.

 

House Government Reform and Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said he was disappointed in the deal, but indicated he would vote for it.

"I wish I could say this was a proud moment," Issa said. "It isn't. We're kicking the can down the road.

"I may vote for what comes on the floor … but I tell you, I won't do it thinking we've accomplished anything here today, other than the smallest finger in a dike that in fact has hundreds of holes in it."

 

Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) sharply criticized the Senate for so quickly approving these changes in the dead of night, just after the new year was rung in.

"The Senate boasts it is America's deliberative body. Today, that claim rings hollow," Brooks said.

"The House must postpone this vote until Congress and the American people have time to study and evaluate this extraordinarily complex legislation, and its impact on taxes, revenue, the economy, our debt and a myriad of other issues."

 

Brooks also said he would vote against the Senate bill if it came up for a vote.

"I will not condone with my vote a process that denies the American people an opportunity to participate in their republic on issues of this magnitude," he said.

 

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) suggested that the Congress should join "Spending Anonymous." He suggested a 12-step program starting with an admission that Congress is "addicted to spending someone else's money," and ending with the creation of a support group that meets regularly "to confess our addiction."

Tweets so C-Span reports

Majority Leader

Rep. Eric Cantor / Other members say he is against the Senate bill

[Rheo]

Cantor is supposedly the driving force to Kill The Deal.

 

They have to have this done by Thursday at noon or it is no good as the new congressmen are sworn in.

 

Kill the Deal!!!!

[Draggingtree]

House GOP opposition to fiscal cliff bill grows

By JAKE SHERMAN and CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN | 1/1/13 2:58 AM EST Updated: 1/1/13 4:33 PM EST

A carefully-crafted Senate compromise to avert the fiscal cliff could be in jeopardy, as House Republicans seem nearly certain to tweak the legislation and send it back to the Senate because it doesn’t contain sufficient spending cuts.

The anger came to a head in a closed House Republican Conference meeting in the Capitol basement Monday, when opposition to the bill — which would extend tax rates for families making less than $450,000 — was overwhelming, sources inside the room said.

House Republican leadership dispersed from the meeting mulling how to proceed with the Senate bill, which passed shortly after 2 a.m. Republicans are expected to meet again later Tuesday afternoon to try and settle on a decision.

In a real sign of trouble, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, No. 2 in House leadership, came out against the package http://www.politico....89-8-85640.html

[Valin]

House GOP opposition to fiscal cliff bill grows

By JAKE SHERMAN and CARRIE BUDOFF BROWN | 1/1/13 2:58 AM EST Updated: 1/1/13 4:33 PM EST

A carefully-crafted Senate compromise to avert the fiscal cliff could be in jeopardy, as House Republicans seem nearly certain to tweak the legislation and send it back to the Senate because it doesn’t contain sufficient spending cuts.

The anger came to a head in a closed House Republican Conference meeting in the Capitol basement Monday, when opposition to the bill — which would extend tax rates for families making less than $450,000 — was overwhelming, sources inside the room said.

House Republican leadership dispersed from the meeting mulling how to proceed with the Senate bill, which passed shortly after 2 a.m. Republicans are expected to meet again later Tuesday afternoon to try and settle on a decision.

In a real sign of trouble, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, No. 2 in House leadership, came out against the package http://www.politico....89-8-85640.html

 

Trouble?

 

I think this whole thing is a joke, and dog and pony show and was from day one. What we see here is a classic example of what is wrong with Washington DC. Deal making at the last minute, behind closed doors, and what is worse deal making that doesn't address the problem...Spending.

Its a farce, and not a particularly good one. And it will go on as long as We The People let it go on....or until the whole thing comes crashing down around our ears.

I hate coming across so cynical and pessimistic, but way to many of our "Leaders" in Washington are to busy playing silly little political games.

 

 

 

We keep sending them back. So who is really at fault?