The next political fight will be a wikkidpissah

[bpwallace49]

..Analysis: Storms ahead as debt deal sets up tax fight

 

By Kevin Drawbaugh | Reuters – 17 hrs ago

....tweet15ShareEmailPrint......WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If Congress passes the debt ceiling deal by Tuesday, as expected, it could trigger a battle over tax reform within weeks and turn Washington once again into a dateline for deadlock.

 

The deal calls for a 12-member special congressional panel to locate $1.5 trillion in budget savings by late November. Some panel members will push for the first major tax code overhaul in 25 years.

 

At stake in any such effort would be tax breaks dear to big corporations and ordinary Americans alike, with the outcome uncertain in a politically super-charged climate.

 

Provisions such as tax deferral for offshore corporate profits, the mortgage interest deduction and accelerated depreciation would hang in the balance.

 

"The debt ceiling agreement sets up a frenetic fall in Washington ... and puts tax reform squarely on the table," said Keefe Bruyette & Woods policy analyst Brian Gardner.

 

Whether lawmakers could ultimately hammer out a comprehensive agreement is another question. The special committee's work will be clouded by sharpening political rhetoric as the November 2012 elections near, and by the impending expiration of the Bush tax cuts at end-2012.

 

In such a feverish atmosphere, it will take considerable skill and fortitude to solve tax-and-spending problems that have defied the good intentions of many since 1986, when the last comprehensive tax reform got done. It cleaned up the tax code, but scores of new loopholes have been added since then.

 

Whether a new tax overhaul results from the debt deal or not, an effort to shape one could make the last few weeks of high drama over the debt ceiling look mild by comparison.

 

"Corporate tax reform and all of its implications for multinationals ... could be here by Christmas," said MF Global policy analyst Chris Krueger.

 

The proposed debt deal would raise the debt ceiling by $2.1 trillion in three steps, cut spending by $2.4 trillion over 10 years, and create a powerful new congressional committee to recommend a deficit-reduction package by late November 2011.

 

Democrats will look for the committee to raise more government revenue by closing tax loopholes for corporations and the wealthy, something that is distinctly missing from the debt deal, much to the consternation of progressives.

 

"Remarkably, there is nothing here that would increase taxes on corporations or the wealthy," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank.

 

Republican House Speaker John Boehner said on Sunday that the framework of the debt compromise makes it effectively "impossible" to use the deal to raise taxes.

 

But White House economic adviser Gene Sperling in a blog on Monday said any such assertion "is simply wrong."

 

Sperling said the special committee could reduce the deficit by cutting spending and getting rid of tax loopholes.

 

"Everything is on the table, as it should be," he said. "First, the Committee can consider getting rid of tax expenditures like subsidies for oil and gas companies or corporate jet owners."

 

If tax reform does not get done by the special committee, Obama wants to let controversial tax cuts made law by President George W. Bush expire in 2013.

 

Despite the possibility that high-rolling financiers might come out losers in a tax reform debate, it was evident that Wall Street was more worried at the moment by the potentially catastrophic impact of a U.S. debt default.

 

The Financial Services Roundtable, a lobbying group for large banking, insurance and investment firms, urged approval of the debt deal. "Congress must act now," said Steve Bartlett, president of the group and a former Texas congressman

 

Ahh . . . the Bush tax cuts that were never, ever designed to last longer than 10 years, else it never would have passed becasue it is fiscally untenable.

 

This should be fun . . .

[tazinib1]

Nice thread title tribute to our old Fanball buddt Wikkidpissa

[WaterMan]

But why raise taxes on the job creators now? They are doing such an amazing job creating jobs, I don't know which one to take.

[wiegie]

Ahh . . . the Bush tax cuts that were never, ever designed to last longer than 10 years, else it never would have passed becasue it is fiscally untenable.

absolutely incorrect

 

the Bush tax cuts were indeed designed to last forever. But the only way they could get them to pass was to sunset them after 10 years so that their longterm affect on the federal budget was hidden. The plan was then to argue that letting the tax cuts expire was equivalent to a tax hike. The resulting fiscal mess would then result in shifting public opinion to the idea that government spending must be cut to save the longterm fiscal viabilty of the country.

 

the GOP pretty much played this one out perfectly

[bpwallace49]

absolutely incorrect

 

the Bush tax cuts were indeed designed to last forever. But the only way they could get them to pass was to sunset them after 10 years so that their longterm affect on the federal budget was hidden. The plan was then to argue that letting the tax cuts expire was equivalent to a tax hike. The resulting fiscal mess would then result in shifting public opinion to the idea that government spending must be cut to save the longterm fiscal viabilty of the country.

 

the GOP pretty much played this one out perfectly

 

They were passed with a sunset date, so they clearly DID have an end date. Whether or not that was completely disingenuous (it was) is another matter entirely, and I agree with you.

 

It could not have passed without a sunset date, so it WAS "designed" to end. So that is absolutely correct, technically.

Edited August 2, 2011 by bpwallace49

[Ursa Majoris]

Here's one tax loophole that surely no-one could object to closing, except GE's stockholders.

 

These numbers are just mind numbing.

 

The company reported worldwide profits of $14.2 billion, and said $5.1 billion of the total came from its operations in the United States.

 

Its American tax bill? None. In fact, G.E. claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 billion.

 

That may be hard to fathom for the millions of American business owners and households now preparing their own returns, but low taxes are nothing new for G.E. The company has been cutting the percentage of its American profits paid to the Internal Revenue Service for years, resulting in a far lower rate than at most multinational companies.

 

Its extraordinary success is based on an aggressive strategy that mixes fierce lobbying for tax breaks and innovative accounting that enables it to concentrate its profits offshore. G.E.’s giant tax department, led by a bow-tied former Treasury official named John Samuels, is often referred to as the world’s best tax law firm. Indeed, the company’s slogan “Imagination at Work” fits this department well. The team includes former officials not just from the Treasury, but also from the I.R.S. and virtually all the tax-writing committees in Congress.

 

So, lemme see here. Not only did the corporate tax rate of 35% completely fail to apply, the taxpayer handed over $3.2 billion to a corporation that made an eleven figure profit in 2010.

 

Kinda puts LaShauna, the legendary welfare mom, in her place, doesn't it? And yet, according to Grover Norquist and the Tea Party, fixing this problem is off the table as it constitutes a "tax hike".

 

The world has gone mad.

[gbpfan1231]

Here's one tax loophole that surely no-one could object to closing, except GE's stockholders.

 

These numbers are just mind numbing.

 

 

 

So, lemme see here. Not only did the corporate tax rate of 35% completely fail to apply, the taxpayer handed over $3.2 billion to a corporation that made an eleven figure profit in 2010.

 

Kinda puts LaShauna, the legendary welfare mom, in her place, doesn't it? And yet, according to Grover Norquist and the Tea Party, fixing this problem is off the table as it constitutes a "tax hike".

 

The world has gone mad.

100% agree with you

[Ursa Majoris]

Here is a great example of what I meant when I said that the corruption has become so massive, no-one bothers to hide it any more.

 

From the same article:

 

The shelters are so crucial to G.E.’s bottom line that when Congress threatened to let the most lucrative one expire in 2008, the company came out in full force. G.E. officials worked with dozens of financial companies to send letters to Congress and hired a bevy of outside lobbyists.

 

The head of its tax team, Mr. Samuels, met with Representative Charles B. Rangel, then chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which would decide the fate of the tax break. As he sat with the committee’s staff members outside Mr. Rangel’s office, Mr. Samuels dropped to his knee and pretended to beg for the provision to be extended — a flourish made in jest, he said through a spokeswoman.

 

That day, Mr. Rangel reversed his opposition to the tax break, according to other Democrats on the committee.

 

The following month, Mr. Rangel and Mr. Immelt stood together at St. Nicholas Park in Harlem as G.E. announced that its foundation had awarded $30 million to New York City schools, including $11 million to benefit various schools in Mr. Rangel’s district. Joel I. Klein, then the schools chancellor, and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who presided, said it was the largest gift ever to the city’s schools.

 

If you still think you're living in a democracy or a republic just because every so often they let you pull a lever or scrawl an X on a bit of paper, yer a fool. This is a plutocratic oligarchy, entirely run for the rich, by the rich.

[yo mama]

the Bush tax cuts were indeed designed to last forever. But the only way they could get them to pass was to sunset them after 10 years so that their longterm affect on the federal budget was hidden.

That's only part of the equation. Another part is that Congress used that nasty reconciliation to pass the Bush Tax cuts, which prohibits any provision that would increase the deficit beyond 10 years after the reconciliation measure.

 

If we want to be honest, the Bush Tax Cuts must expire at the end of 10 years because that was part of the deal of getting them in the first place.

[bpwallace49]

If you still think you're living in a democracy or a republic just because every so often they let you pull a lever or scrawl an X on a bit of paper, yer a fool. This is a plutocratic oligarchy, entirely run for the rich, by the rich.

 

+ infinity

[bpwallace49]

That's only part of the equation. Another part is that Congress used that nasty reconciliation to pass the Bush Tax cuts, which prohibits any provision that would increase the deficit beyond 10 years after the reconciliation measure.

 

If we want to be honest, the Bush Tax Cuts must expire at the end of 10 years because that was part of the deal of getting them in the first place.

 

Exactly correct.

 

But it OBVIOUSLY means that yer raisin taxes when they expire when they are SUPPOSED to expire . . . right?

[WaterMan]

If you still think you're living in a democracy or a republic just because every so often they let you pull a lever or scrawl an X on a bit of paper, yer a fool. This is a plutocratic oligarchy, entirely run for the rich, by the rich.

 

That's not true, the poor become President all the time.

[tazinib1]

If you still think you're living in a democracy or a republic just because every so often they let you pull a lever or scrawl an X on a bit of paper, yer a fool. This is a plutocratic oligarchy, entirely run for the rich, by the rich.

 

 

It's been this way for quite some time now.

[Ursa Majoris]

If you still think you're living in a democracy or a republic just because every so often they let you pull a lever or scrawl an X on a bit of paper, yer a fool. This is a plutocratic oligarchy, entirely run for the rich, by the rich.

I should amend this to say "entirely run for the rich, by the puppets of the rich"

[SEC=UGA]

I should amend this to say "entirely run for the rich, by the puppets of the rich"

 

Meh, kind of, but not entirely accurate.