WSJ:
[…] he House Democratic Caucus was brimming with fury at being excluded from the negotiations that produced the agreement. In a closed-door meeting Thursday, the caucus passed a resolution stating that the tax-cut deal would not be brought to the House floor for a vote unless it was changed.
“Just say no!” Democrats chanted before the vote, according to an aide in the meeting.
Despite the angry caucus vote, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) signaled that she did not plan to stall the debate altogether.
“We will continue discussions with the president and our Democratic and Republican colleagues in the days ahead to improve the proposal before it comes to the House floor for a vote,” she said in a written statement.
A senior aide to the Democratic leadership said the resolution “doesn’t mean the deal is dead. It just has to be altered.”
The proposed tax-cut package includes a 13-month continuation of extended benefits for the long-term unemployed, a one-year payroll tax reduction for nearly all workers and measures intended to help lift the economy.
The anger among House Democrats reflected more than opposition to the emerging legislation. It also showed the frustrations of a party badly bruised by heavy midterm election losses.
“A number of us are very frustrated. It is finally time for us to stop being spear-carriers here,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio (D.,Ore.). “It’s time to tell the White House they are wrong.”
The change Democratic critics most want to make involves the tax treatment of inheritances. The federal tax on estates expired at the end of 2009 and is set to be reinstated from 2011 at a rate of 55% charged on estates over $1 million.
The new tax package would renew the tax at a rate of 35% on estates over $5 million. House Democrats want a higher tax rate, applied to additional estates.
This morbid desire to suck the money out of the recently dead — a reprehensible thievery of wealth already taxed (creating cottage industries that allow opportunists to swoop in robber baron-like and buy up family farms and small businesses from those who aren’t cash rich and can’t afford to pay the governmental punishment on the death of their family member, etc.) — is probably best described as progressive ghoulishness, and it should raise the ire of every American not already brainwashed into believing that all money belongs to the government, and that we’re just allowed to keep a certain percentage of it as a show of state benevolence.
The Democrats, for all their supposed consternation, will agree to this deal — essentially, leaving the GOP with a “victory” that includes massive unfunded spending, the status quo on certain tax rates, and the resumption of the death tax for “the rich.”
It also sets the Democrats up to play the class warfare game again come 2012, having focus-grouped a more salable line for who we’re to punish for being “rich” — arriving at the trigger mark of $1 million in earnings — this despite the fact that in 2008, those in the top 5% (AGI at around $160K) earned 35% of adjusted gross income in the US, yet paid 58.7% of the federal income tax, far more than the bottom 95% paid. The top 1% of earners (AGI at $380K) paid 38% .
The Democrat ghouls run on stoking envy.
And yet increasingly, the tax burden in this country is paid for the few, while those with no skin in the game assume the power over taxation by electing those who will agree to soak “the rich.”
I mentioned the other day that a flat tax or fair tax should become a leading issue for the TEA Partiers going forward. Progressive taxation — a tenet of Marxism — leads inexorably to what we’re now seeing: the masses taught to define down “rich” until they have effective control over the wealth of everyone else, at no expense to themselves.
This is institutionalized, legal theft. And it is anything but American.
(h/t TerryH)
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update: Read more here:
Here’s an example. Say you inherited your mother’s home this year. She bought it for $200,000 and today it’s worth $4 million. If you had inherited it last year, you would’ve had to pay estate taxes on half a million (the value of the house, minus the estate-tax exclusion). But since you inherited it this year, you pay no estate tax and instead get taxed on a whopping $2.5 million gain (the $3.8 million gain on the house, minus your $1.3 million exclusion). The irony, of course, is that some people who never would’ve owed estate taxes now might take a capital-gains hit. See why you don’t want to kill off mom this year?
he said spear-carriers for reals?
Well, as long as they don’t start chucking the damned things, it’s all good.
– I think they have to call a deal a deal./sa
– And in case you didn’t see it in the other thread, DADT just failed in the Senate.
If ever I hear someone talking about how they hate the rich, I remember. I sear it into my memory like a John Kerry Cambodia trip. Then if by chance, that same person is working at a store or restaurant or convenience store, I tell them, “I can’t buy anything from you because you hate the rich.”
It’s fun.
…like a John Kerry Cambodia trip….
– Magic hat H8ter!
I’m going to consider myself vindicated on this one, justifiably or no :-) Leaving the Wicked Witch of the Avenues out of the original deal was a fatal mistake. They will now spin their wheels for some unknown but gratifying amount of time, trying to come up with something the greedy assholes in the House Democratic Caucus will accept, and whatever they come up with will simply cause more delay because Republicans feel they’ve been generous enough already, and Lame Blues have realized that they have to go home and face the music.
The DADT failure is as much out of pique as anything else; they already said they wouldn’t do anything else until taxes and the budget went through, and Harry pushed it on them anyway. I reckon DREAM is likely in much the same category. If it had come up today it would’ve gone down around 50 or 51 to 43 or 44, with a goodly number of Democratic Senators “unexpectedly” too busy in their offices to attend the vote. Reid knows that and didn’t bring it up.
Altogether, not at all a bad day. I even got the new Engine Control Module installed in my car, so I don’t have to drive the ’74 Ford pickup (8 MPG, and I have to buy gas, too) for a while.
Regards,
Ric
Progressive tax will never go away. It collects the most revenue while pissing off the fewest voters. Good luck getting joe sixpack (who’s probably not paying any taxes anyways) to think a flat tax is a good idea. FOX won’t even be able to sell that one.
Rush was dancing around something like this today.
Say the original deal gets passed, the one now with the 55% at 1 mill would be similar but worse, since it is nothing different from what we have now and even worse in some respects the economy stays flat or gets worse. Obama can then go out and say, “Well we tried tax cuts and as I expected they haven’t helped at all, in fact everything is just getting worse for everyone except those rich guys who have stolen all our money.”
He then can push for very progressive rates during his 2012 campaign. With this thought in mind I now hope he and they fail. Spit it out Nancy.
I gave my son a nice long lecture about the estate tax dealo today.
If more people explained this shit to their kid, we wouldn’t be in this mess.
My son is (now) outraged that the government think it should confiscated a person’s wealth upon their demise.
slightly ot
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If things aren’t noticably better in 2012, Obamma will be out on his ass, regardless of how he explains it. OTOH, if things are better, he’ll get reelected no matter how little he had to do with it.
It collects the most revenue while pissing off the fewest voters. Good luck getting joe sixpack (who’s probably not paying any taxes anyways) to think a flat tax is a good idea. FOX won’t even be able to sell that one.
FOX isn’t an entity. Or even an opinion. They don’t “sell” ideas.
“(who’s probably not paying any taxes anyways) to think a flat tax is a good idea. ”
Being owned is so nice, peaceful. Now roll over boy, beg, beg, beg.
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And this, my friends, demonstrates clearly and beyond doubt that progressivism is truly a secular religion.
Because, you see, all goodness, sustenance, guidance, and provision is provided by the generosity of the government. They believe that the government owns everything, and portions it out to each of us, just like our rights (or so they believe); they tell us what we’re allowed to have, regardless of what we may earn. Sounds like a bizzaro twist on Roman Catholic dogma, where God ultimately owns everything, and graces us with its “use” during our lifetimes.
From each according to his ability, to each according to his need…Which was from the Karl Marx hit parade. So no matter what they may say otherwise, they’re communists, plain and simple.
The estate tax is criminal, paid on the accumulated after-tax income and assets of an benefactor’s life. While I can see paying the tax on any gains that accumulate after it’s been bequeathed to you, that is all.
And there can be no electoral justice in this country as long as a signifigant portion, nearly half, of the population pays no tax at all, or actually recieves some redistributed income from another in the form of a check based on the earned income tax credit.
Perhaps if everybody had some skin in the game, they’d be a bit more reluctant to vote themselves more money from the government trough, or for politicians who advocate such redistributive injustice.
We need a flat tax, with no loopholes, very much like Mr. Ryan proposes, although there are some other plans I like as well. Get rid of the progressive tax, indeed, get rid of the
progressivescommunists.Let ’em all move to Eurosocialist land, instead of ruining this country by trying to reshape it in Europes failed image.
Thanks for that link, newrouter. I missed that.
Gotta say, I’m super psyched to hear her saying that.
“Spit it out Nancy.”
– That is just so wrong on so many levels. Thanx for that disturbing image. May the Dem caucus squat in your post toasties.
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@17 don’t tell hf
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“Thanx for that disturbing image.”
Well at least I didn’t link to the origin.
– Concerning the student rioting going on in the UK (although observers say the crowds are actually only 50% students, with the rest being rent-an-anarchists taking any advantage to stir civil unrest) one commenter posted:
– “The trouble with Socialism is you always run out of other peoples money to spend.”
Oh, he’s paying. He may not know it or believe it, but he’s paying. Look into how much of the cost of retail goods is needed to cover not only taxes, but also compliance and documentation. At each point in the supply chain from farm to grocery shelf, or factory to that box delivered to your front porch.
Look up “Cost of Government Day,” which takes a more complete look at the costs imposed by government both in taxes and in red tape costs. It comes a damn sight later in the year than “Tax Freedom Day.”
Tell Joe Sixpack about that and he won’t be so complacent about progressive taxation.
Oh, he’s paying.
Money is the least of Joe Sixpack’s worries. Too bad we can’t transport the more covetous among the breed (those that continue to vote Dem thinking it will get them a sizable portion of their neighbor’s income – those greedy bastards who dare to work 60+ hours a week on their own business and show old Joe up) back a couple a hundred years and into the bodies of slaves (chattel or bond). How’s those “free” meals and shelter workin’ out fer ya, Joe? And all that sunshine and fresh air and exercise? YOu should be grateful…
Sure, everyone is taxed in some way, but it’s hidden in the cost of goods. I still think everyone receiving some kind of income needs to pay something in Federal taxes, even if it’s a minor amount. Everyone needs to directly feel uncle sugar reaching into his wallet with those skeletal, dusty hands.
And I do mean everyone!
flat tax, no with holding. include the folks getting money from the gov’t.
When I was writing that, I had only a vague recollection of when COGD had been in past years.
AUGUST. FUCKING. 19TH.
That’s before ObamaCare kicks in fully, and with the whole array of Bush tax cuts still in place.
Why the fuck aren’t people pushing that in everybody’s face? August fucking 19th. Almost two-thirds of the year we spend working to cover the cost of taxation and unconstitutional government power.
We’ll see.
And what the fuck does FOXNews have to do with anything?
I never said it would be easy. If it were easy, you’d be for it. Because you’re lazy — and a lazy thinker who seems to fancy himself something of a bemused objective observer of the American condition. Me, I was told we couldn’t stick to our principles as classical liberals and hope to win ever again. I was told doing such would turn us into a regional party — by the very person who brokered this horrible tax deal for the GOP.
But we won big in the House and in governor races and state assemblies. And we’ll continue on, challenging those who ostensibly represent us until we find ones who actually will.
The flat tax is fair. Americans have a cultural history of leaning on “fairness.” It’s just that the fairness they are being fed now is not the same as fairness in the classical liberal sense. But that can and will change. And before long, you’ll see a growing and energized tax reform movement in this country.
Mark my words.
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flat tax, no with holding. include the folks getting money from the gov’t.
And the bill comes due in October, not April.
Gridlock is a good good good good good thing.
So the House Democrats want to “just say no” and hold out for a better deal? What possible incentive could the Republicans have to concede to their demands? Who do they think will get the blame if they run out the clock allowing taxes to go up for everyone and unemployment insurance to run out for thousands just because they want to stick it to the “rich”? Will that put them in a position to demand a better deal after the Republicans take control of the House next January?
Personally, I hope they do screw the deal, I’m not that crazy about all the deficit spending, I’d much rather see off-setting cuts elsewhere to pay for all this, I’d rather see the current tax rates made permanent, and I’d very much like to see the estate tax completely gone. If the House Dems do say “no” I hope that’s the deal they’re offered in January.
I’ve got to think that Obama is trying to broker a deal now because he knows it’s the last chance he’s got to push something through that he and the Dems won’t find much less to their taste. I rather expect that after a bit of political posturing the House Dems are going to fold like a cheap lawn chair, so long as the Republicans hold the line. But then the Dems have done stupid shit before, so who knows?
[…] great example here of what the Democrats want: (h/t Protein Wisdom) Here’s an example. Say you inherited your mother’s home this year. She bought it for $200,000 […]
Ah! I see we’ve already had this conversation earlier today. Well, alrighty then! The Republicans should respond by telling the Dems “We’re altering the deal. Pray we don’t alter it any further.” For full effect perhaps they could get Darth Cheney to deliver the message, hmm?
The Republicans should respond by telling the Dems “We’re altering the deal.”
There’s a not insignificant chance that all of this wailing and gnashing of teeth is intended to stampede the Republicans into supporting a bad deal. (After all, if the progressives hate it, how bad can it be?) We don’t want to end up owning this for all the reasons already mentioned. We also don’t want to be the ones blamed for the double dip that Obama says won’t happen regardless, except that it might if this tax deal isn’t agreed to. So what we should do is nothing. I wouldn’t even take a whip count if it was up to me. Leave the Democrats guessing until the last 15 seconds of the vote, if they can even get a vote on the floor.
Perhaps you’re right, at least if the goal is to pass this “deal” as is. Certainly the Repubs shouldn’t grant any concessions whatever as the deal is already bad enough. I’m just wondering why, in all the news coverage on this deal, no one has pointed out that if the Dems don’t deal now they’re certainly going to fair worse — from their perspective — come January 1st. And now we have Obama saying he’s not ruling out changes, even though Biden told the House Dems Wednesday that the “tax-cut deal can’t be changed”.
Just wondering where Dick Cheney is when we need him to provide a little clarity!
But we won big in the House and in governor races and state assemblies.
If I may pick a nit: proportionally, we won even bigger in the Senate than we did in the House; it’s just that there weren’t as many seats up for grabs, and the Objective Media spent a lot of time focused on the couple of races we didn’t win.
Our platform enjoys great support, even if some of our candidates weren’t perfect. Still, it’s going to be a lot easier for us to find better candidates in the next two years than it will be for the statists to find an appealing way to sell their policies of theft and slavery.
[…] great example here of what the Democrats want: (h/t Protein Wisdom) Here’s an example. Say you inherited your mother’s home this year. She bought it for $200,000 […]