$620 BILLION TAX INCREASE PASSED BY “GOP-CONTROLLED” CHAMBER
Eighty-five “Republicans” joined Democrats in supporting a massive tax hike on the American people – and in postponing spending cuts they agreed to as part of an August 2011 deal to raise the federal government’s debt limit to $16.4 trillion.
The so-called “fiscal cliff compromise,” which overwhelmingly passed the U.S. Senate in the early morning hours on January 1 – passed the U.S. House shortly before midnight on New Year’s Day. The measure includes income tax hikes for upper income earners – i.e. individuals making more than $400,000 a year (and couples making more than $450,000 a year) – as well as a payroll tax hike for all income earners. It also increases the estate tax.
All told, it will suck an estimated $620 billion out of the U.S. economy over the coming decade – while doing nothing to address the nation’s long-term debt problem.
In fact the fiscal cliff bill included $61 billion in new spending – $31 billion in Medicaid payments to doctors and $30 billion to extend unemployment benefits to America’s millions of long-term unemployed workers.
To their credit all five of South Carolina’s Republican congressmen – Jeff Duncan, Trey Gowdy, Mick Mulvaney, Tim Scott and Joe Wilson – voted against the measure. U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (RINO-S.C.) supported it, however – the latest example of his increasingly overt fiscal liberalism.
(To view the roll call vote on this bill in the U.S. House, click here).
Obviously this website objects to the implementation of these tax hikes. America’s economy simply cannot continue to sustain the mindless growth of its government – which burned through $2.1 trillion in deficit spending in just seventeen months.
Fiscal conservatives agree …
“Instead of making our country more secure, this compromise places our country on even shakier fiscal ground by completely ignoring why we’re $16 trillion in debt,” U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan said by way of explaining his vote against the proposal. “Not only does this bill fail to address spending, but it potentially undoes the spending cuts adopted as part of the debt ceiling compromise from 2011.”
Exactly …
Mark our words: These tax hikes will come back to bite our economy in the ass.
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37 comments
So is DeMint just sitting home collecting a paycheck while doing nothing? He’s missed a bunch of votes lately.
Hard to ignore the call of a million dollar salary.
Miss Graham just sealed the end.
Dumb vote if you want to represent South Carolina.
I truly fail to understand what it is that the Republican pundits wanted from this negotiation. Republicans negotiated a tax cut for people making between 250k and 450k and paid for it by increasing taxes on the those making less than 250k. What more could they expect?
The estate tax only applies to single people with assets over 5 million, and married couples with assets over 10 million.
In the end the compromise bill has no effect on 99.5% of small business owners, the people the Republicans were supposedly trying to protect.
What were you expecting would happen here? If Cantor and the South Carolina House members had their way, we could all be paying higher taxes than we are. Yes there would also be more spending cuts; but most would occur where Republicans did not want them to occur, in the Dept. of Defense; and those are not off the table yet. Those cuts are only delayed a couple of months.
The problem with Republican pundits, is they continue to state they are unhappy, but will not say specifically what would make them happy. I guess I know what GOP Utopia would be. They would like for Obama to push for an end to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Then they could eliminate those programs while bashing Obama for doing so.
The conservative position (notice I’m not saying Republican) has consistently been that spending is the problem, not tax revenue. We’ve always said that simply raising rates while not addressing spending or the thousands of tax loopholes does nothing to help the country long-term.
I personally would have been okay with a tax increase thru elimination of loopholes, so long as the deal contained real solutions to the enormous debt facing Medicare and the stark future of Social Security. Congress and the President have known since the summer that the “fiscal cliff” was coming… yet neither side made a serious effort to address it until only about 2 weeks remained.
As to your comment about this not affecting 99.5% of small business owners, let’s be clear that this deal allows the payroll tax to increase and will affect every last American who earns a paycheck.
Tom it only shows these five “representatives” in South Carolina don’t have a clue and do not “represent” the people in their districts. I ask you, what viable experience do any of these five have in running a country? NONE-NADA.
Scott is an insurance salesman,Mulvaney, Gowdy, and Wilson are lawyers/politico hacks, while my favorite “Mr. Clemson Football”Duncan ran/runs an auction house in Clinton, SC.
They all pay homage to Demint. If it wasn’t for him none of these buffoons would have a job paying $175,000 plus perks. Speaking in which good old “duhmint” is now pulling in over a $1.0 million with his new job.
Does this mean that his wife won’t have to support him anymore? Just asking!
Fred;
Sounds like the employment of the founding fathers. Hmm? Your point is?
Have a Great Day!! :) There won’t be many left with the Demlicans and Republicrats in charge.
Frank Pytel
Those cuts are only delayed a couple of months.
Don’t worry, neither side wants to see those cuts go into effect. They’re going to kick the can down the road a few times and then quietly undo the cuts. And it won’t even make the 6:00 news when it happens.
Peter, as usual the “Conservative Position” you espouse is long on rhetoric short on substance. What cuts do you want? How much would come from Social Security? How much from Medicare? how much from Defense? How about border security? Do you want to cut that? Highway maintenance? Do you want to cut that? Should we eliminate NASA? Should we close our Embassies around the world? Should we eliminate aid to Israel? Should we bring our troops home from Germany and Japan? What loopholes do you want to close? How do you define loophole?
The Conservative Position has been anything but consistant. Conservatives espouse ideals, not ideas. When they get to the ideas, things start to break down.
The payroll tax increase was a temporary stimulus measure, and it was the Republicans who pushed for its end.
Tom;
I beg to differ. The Republicrat and the Demlican positions alike have changed as the winds and the tides.
The conservative position has never wavered.
1. Dump everything federal except the military.
2. All other items are states rights.
3. Constitutional amendment limiting all governments to 15% (+/- admitedly there has been some wavering on this point) of all personal income.
4. Eliminate all business taxes.
Have a Great Day!! :) There won’t be many left with the Demlicans and Republicrats in charge.
Frank Pytel
So the dow is up 225. Why T?
Have a Great Day!! :) There won’t be many left with the Demlicans and Republicrats in charge.
Frank Pytel
Not that I would presume to answer for BigT, but. . . .
If the markets are up, it is because the catastrophe of an end to all the Bush-era tax cuts and an end to unemployment extension was averted, plus heading off an increase in milk prices.
Whether this was enough to defuse the “austerity bomb” remains to be seen.
And at the final bell. . . .
The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 308.41 points, to 13412.55, its best-ever start to a year. In percentage terms, the 2.35% gain was the best opening since 2009.
$620 billion is less than $800 billion, and far less than $1.4 trillion. Not enough revenue gains, not enough spending cuts. I’d say this was a wasted opportunity, but Congress never considered it an opportunity because Congress doesn’t give a shit about the deficit, and that goes for both sides. This deal was probably worked out a long time ago and they were just waiting to spring it out.
Funny that Republicans worked hard as hell to negotiate keeping tax cuts for the rich but didn’t bat an eye at letting the payroll tax cut expire. Probably because paying for that tax cut would require cutting some of their precious spending or raising taxes further on the rich.
Either way, back to business as usual.
The House really did not have a choice you F^&*kin IDIOT…
FITS is THE SAME Blithering DUMB@$$ who told us there is NO DIFFERENCE in Obama and Romney….even though Obama has NEVER held a real job or worked for anything in his life…
Obama, like FITS, has had it all given to him, or they’ve been on the Government Dole…and they F%^&ed that up too…
I guess if you can’t get a good jerk on, you might as well spend all damn day bitching. Well, I have thngs to do…I’ll catch up later.
Bottom line: elections have Consequences. That was obvious 6 months ago, before we put that Failure Some Beech Obama back in office…
Yet, this F@#Kin Idiot FITS said there is no difference in Obama and Romney…and now this Major Sanford F*#k Up is acting like it’s the GOP’s fault…
It’s his F%^kin Fault, along w/ all the Other Stupid Mother-F^&k#*s who voted for that KOOK Ron Paul or The fool Obama…
To criticize one 3rd of the government for the EFF-Ups of Obama and Reid, shows that FITS is a Major F%^kin DUBM@$$….
Actually when it comes to legislation the House is one half of the Government, not one third. Just like the Republicans in the house must approve all spending. Wasn’t it your god, Paul Ryan, who voted for and requested stimulus money for his district; saying it would create jobs.
Tom: You WORTHLESS piece of Liberal $#!*…
You b@$*@rd$ F^&*ed EVERYTHING Up for FOUR Years…and then you Run LIKE the PUNK Cowards you are…when it’s time to account…
I guess that’s the beauty of being a Filthy PIECE of $#!* like you…you are Major F^&*-Ups..and you NEVER have to answer for your constant failure..
And DumbF*^cks like FITS, who rode a Government Check like a bare-back Welfare Check Jockey, will feed you Swill that $#!* like you Drinks up…because you’re too GD Stupid to think for yourself…
T;
I voted for oshitforbrains. I feel that he would run the country into the ground faster than mittenhead. T, that is where this country is going. There is absolutely zero difference between Oshitforbrains and Mittenhead.
Also T, it ain’t gonna take another 4 years. I promise. The shit is gonna hit the fan faster than that.
Have a Great Day!! :) There won’t be many left with the Demlicans and Republicrats in charge.
Frank Pytel
This Big T message is sponsored by McNeil Consumer Healthcare and Haldol.
“For those times when Xanax is not enough, there’s always restraints, kind words, & Haldol.”
Big yawn……………..
Much ado about nothing.
Only positive was that I ATTEMPTED to listen to Russ Cassells “NEW”?? show this morning and after about 15 minutes of his whining/bitching and the same crackpot callers, I switched to a new rock station out of GSP (96.7 FM).
As a rule, when a radio station switches programming around it is a sign of trouble in the ratings. I hear WORD’s ratings have been on the decline for a while now.
Same old shit,different day:
Bitch,bitch,bitch: bitch & moan – “It’s all Obama’s fault”,blah,blah,blah 5-7 commercials per whining/bitching,kiss Haley’s ass,”Country’s going to Hell in a basket”,”you ain’t taking my fucking guns” etc. repeat ad nauseum……
“Ignorance is Bliss…and yall are some IGNORANT Son of a B!*ches, that’s for sure…”
Funny, I was going to ask how it feels to be so fucking stupid, but I see you wouldn’t have anything to compare it to. I will tell you this, Biggs: A vagina is vastly superior to a tube sock…
Must be nice to be a democrat…
All you ever do is F*#k everything up….Then blame er’body else…
And you you got Dumb@$$#$ like FITS so D@*n Clueless…they march in Lock-step w/ all the Liberal FITS minions…
Ignorance is Bliss…and yall are some IGNORANT Son of a B!*ches, that’s for sure…
Oh man, I’m glad Obama won if for nothing other than the entertainment it has generated through BigT.
youtube.com/watch?v=2Oy6DwHAi70
Smirks: I think Obama actaully gives the GOP an opportunity to PROVE they are Smart enough to Bust his @$$ in the end…
And I think that will happen, given a little time…
Obama is HATED the masses, but the National media scammed him back into office…
But w/o a Demon, Saints have nothing to combat…Obama gives us a CLEAR choice between his HATE, Bigotry and Failure…vs…A True honest voice for the American people…
I’ll bet WE win in the end…and like a Cheating call in the Outback Bowl…We’ll BLOW UP on this Sorry Piece of $#!* on the next play….
I’m optimistic about it. I believe in my fellow American and God. He will not forsake us like it seems he did on Nov. 6. God amswers prayer…and I know He will this time too…
Miss Lindsey will pay for that vote, not that it mattered. His only chance to win the primary is for Dems to cross over and vote for him. $41 in tax increases for every $1 in spending reductions. Obama is a liar. There were no real spending cuts. And now he wants more spending, not less. Proud of the guys who voted no.
Obama’s TOTAL Failure in this will hand the GOP the US Senate in 2014. The media cannot win Statewide Senate seats, like they gave Obama a national victory along w/ the help of the Racist voters…
Obamas failure will make it easier to begin cleaning up this Disaster named Obama…
Just bide your time, and be loyal to principles…Those calling themselves Republicans, but selling out to Obama, will pay…
We are keeping score…
another political prediction from the Village idiot. Oh my ..thank you enlightened one..even though you have a 0-64 record and are simply stated: a total fool with not an ounce of respect and a total asshole to boot..it is a sure victory for the dems in 2014 if you predict the opposite..thank you dim witted small minded racist bigot. Thank you.
LO “fuckin'” L!
Didn’t all these SC Republicans in the House vote to raise everyone’s taxes?
Technically they voted to not prevent every one’s taxes from going up, under the tax system they voted for before. So I guess you could say they voted to leave in place the tax increase they approved for they year 2013. Ain’t politics grand.
Hey, but Grover says he is happy. He got his way and is still relevant to the debate????
Faux News’ ratings are down and Maddow is ahead of O’Reilly…
Frankly, it’s time for the tax code to be totally revamped. The last time that happened was 1986, and the code has become so littered with concessions to various special interest groups it’s time to scrap it and start anew.
The problem is that there aren’t enough adults around to get it done.
Not that I agree with you sentiment, but I find it interesting that Russia’s income tax rate is a flat 13%.
So tell me, who do you think is the capitalist pig, them or us?
:)
Income taxes are always low in an Oligarchy like Russia. Especially when the government owns the country’s oil reserves and shares the wealth with the Oligarchs. Just like Alaska. The state owns and sells oil reserves, making it the most socialist state in the nation.
But, ask the average American if he wants to live like the average Russian. In a country where an Oligarch can have you killed for criticizing him; with no possibility of criminal prosecution, unless you cross a more powerful Oligarch.
So you are of the opinion that we have no Oligarch’s here?