TOAST 2 THAT / ALL THE BUZZ ON THE HOUSE

By: Tim Harris

You will hear about it today and it will more than likely dominate the news cycle in the coming weeks. Today, at approximately 11:50 a.m., President Obama will address the nation from the East Room of the White House. This time, the President will be calling on Congress to extend the Bush tax cuts for those individuals and families making less than $250,000 a year. If you follow politics this is déjà vu, because it was less than two years ago that the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, and the Executive branch were squabbling over this very same issue. In 2010, Republicans won—President Obama signed a bill that extended unemployment benefits and the Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans.

History of Bush Tax Cuts

In 2001, after President Clinton left office, the United States had a budget surplus. Our then-president, George W. Bush and his administration were like kids in a candy store. They couldn’t contain themselves and blew through the cash like Weezy and Birdman. The Bush administration implemented a prescription drug program to lessen and, in some instances, eliminate the cost of prescription drugs for seniors—a good thing. Bush also used Clinton’s surplus to fund an unwarranted tax break for the entire nation—an okay thing (who wouldn’t like to pay a little less in taxes). But then, following the attacks of Sept. 11, President Bush waged war against Iraq, sending thousands of troops and billions of dollars into the pint-sized country with the expectation that we would find “weapons of mass destruction.” You know the story—we didn’t!

A combination of two unfunded wars, massive tax cuts, and a reckless Wall Street brought the nation’s economy to its knees. But don’t be fooled. Republicans will try to over-complicate this argument by using terms like ‘uncertainty’ and ‘small business.’ However, the argument is as simple as this—we can no longer afford to give handouts to the super-rich. For 11 years we have subsidized the incomes of our nation’s top earners—and while we watched their incomes rise by over 120 percent, middle class families saw their wages barely increase. Another simple fact—the top ‘1 percent’ have seen their tax rate drop to a 60-year low over the past 10 years. If we use the Republican argument that tax breaks for the wealthy create certainty and certainty creates jobs, then after 11 years of record low tax rates, our economy should be overflowing with jobs—right?

Unfortunately, we never saw the jobs. Now, Republicans are making us the same promise—if we let the rich write their own rules, make as much money as they possibly can then somehow those dollars will trickle down to the rest of us. It helps to know that every modern day president that has taken on a recession during their tenure has raised taxes in order to offset spending cuts—from FDR (Democrat) to Ronald Regan (Republican).

President Obama has proposed a reasonable plan with proven results. We must raise revenue—that’s a fact, but the president’s plan to do so is identical to the economic blueprint of President Clinton (you know the plan that made everyone richer and created 23 million jobs). Honestly, as an American, you have wonder if the neo-Republican Party thinks we are a nation of idiots. I mean, if I had a choice—I’d go with the plan that has proven itself to work. For the anti-Obama folks, save your rebuttals, instead I want you to really examine the Republican platform—dissect the meaning behind words like ‘small business’ and what it means in relation to the tax code and then make an educated decision on who to vote for in November—please, 98 percent of us are counting on you.