Sunday, December 12, 2010

Opinion: Should this pass? Is it good for the U.S.? The Democrats? The Republicans?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/12/AR2010121203373.html

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/12/the_white_houses_case_for_the.html

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/12/12/tax.plan/index.html

24 comments:

nklinka said...

This should not pass because the way to solve problems is not by throwing money at them. It hurts the United States because rather than businesses improving themselves, they instead become over-reliant on governmental assistance and fail to establish themselves. The economy cannot break a cycle if companies are not forced to make efforts themselves to improve. Clearly its good for the Democrats and not the Republicans because it is a Democrat designed bill with more socialistic tendencies. The concept of helping the country through tax breaks is good, but not good enough due to the long term struggles that will instead ensue.

jwaltz said...

I think that the tax package should pass because it could have a positive influence on the economy. Without self-improvement from businesses, the economy isn't getting any better. Help from this tax package could give the economy a boost, and therefore accelerate recovery. As the president stated in a CNN article, "I recognize that folks on both sides of the political spectrum are unhappy" with parts of the deal, President Obama said, calling it "the nature of compromise." President Obama also said the measure will help bolster recovery from recession and provide taxpayers with certainty about what they will owe in 2011.

I think this bill could be a possibility for both Democrats and Republicans, it's just a matter of compromise and usage of the current congressional lame duck session.

Ecotton said...

hour2
Should it pass? Yes, it should pass, because in the short term it will help. The only problem is in the long term (i agree with Klinka on this part) it probably is not, because businesses will only become more reliant on these tax breaks. This is definitaly good for Rebublicans and Democrats because it gives Americans what they want: a bipartasin bill.

KRodenbeck said...

The only part of the bill that makes sense to me is the equal tax cuts. Though the idea of raising taxes for the millionaires seems logical at first, it isn't. The business owners are the ones who are, or should be, creating jobs for the people. If the government takes money away from the business owners they are not going to want to hire as many workers. It would also be a slap in the face to the millionaires. Almost all of them worked extremely hard for their money and now the government wants to punish them for being successful? That makes no sense. Therefore I am glad that if this bill should pass, there will be equal tax cuts for everyone. Other than that, I'm not sure if spending a huge chunk of money again would help as much as people believe it would.

cziolkowski said...

First this bill is not neccesarly a tax cut because this will just extend the law that Bush put in eight years ago. If this does not pass then the taxes will go back to the rates before bush was in office (which is up). There are a few parts of this bill that are new, but will mostly just extend the lower tax rates. I think that the bill should be passed because it will keep the taxes lower. And most people in the US do not want to pay more in taxes. I also do not think this bill will have that much of an affect on the economy because not much will really change for the people.

SMiller said...

I feel this bill should not pass. The Bush-era tax cuts that are being extended seem to be too favorable toward the upper class, and the new cuts that are proposed do not look very promising for the American economy from my point of view. American businesses are not going to be able to overcome the current economic hardships based on tax cuts alone.

Furthermore, it definitely seems like this bill is being heaved into action, as its crunch time for the current Democratically-dominated Congress, which seems a bit desperate to get something done. I'm not so sure it wouldn't be better to let these tax cuts expire come the New Year, and then let the new Congress attempt a more constructive bill.

However, the bill has already passed in the Senate... and apparently it just passed in the House. Obama will certainly sign this bipartisan maneuver, so the lame-duck Congress has sprinted toward passage of the bill after all.

Anonymous said...

The newly approved tax package was a sacrifice for Democrats; the bill would keep in place Bush-era tax rates for all income levels for two years and would extend unemployment insurance benefits for 13 months, along with other tax credits. Although economists predict the bill will add 500,000 to 1.5 million jobs, the cost of the $858 billion dollar package exceeds Obama's failed stimulus package. Republicans are ovbiously happy about the tax cuts for the rich, although Obama vowed to end the them when they expire in two years. This bill seems to meet the approval of Americans. The latest NBC/Wall Street Journal poll showed 59% of respondents approved of the deal and the plan won support from 54% of Democrats, 60% of Independents and 68% of Republicans. My guess is Americans will think differently of this bill six months from now when the true effects are felt.

Obama finally passed crucial bipartisan legislature before the start of the lame duck session. No matter what your opinion is on Obama's fiscal policies--you have to agree that the biparisan construction of this bill can only benefit the future of America's economy.

AHanna said...

This tax-cut extension is an interesting piece of legislation. In the short term, tax cuts across the board should help to bolster the economy. In the long term, however, this legislation might just take the economy back down; just look at the size of the amount that will be added to the deficit. Therefore, the tax package may not have much of an effect.

This bill is good for both the Democrats and Republicans, as it is also bad for them as well; it is just the nature of bipartisan legislation. For Democrats, they were finally able to compromise with Republicans, and the tax cuts will only be extended for a brief time. However, Democrats were unable to stop the estate tax portion of the bill; Democrats were hoping that the wealthiest Americans would be taxed heavier. For Republicans, this bill is good because they were able to get some decent conservative legislation passed in the days before the new Congress convenes, in which is really their time to shine.

Overall, this bill is a good sign for the nation in the short-term. Finally, bipartisan legislation could be passed, and many times bipartisan legistlation is what is actually best for the country. Also, our representatives are focusing on what needs to be focused on right now in America: no partisan bickering, no culture wars, just the economy.

dboyce said...

As of right now, the last thing to do to the businesses is to tax money out of them because they need the money to create jobs. As far as millionare go, I think they can handle taxes that are higher. However, businesses should not have to rely on the government for success. Let businesses decide what they want to do.(Free market). Provided they pass the bill, the short term effects may be positive and Americans will enjoy that, but the long term, which is probably more importnat, may not end well because businesses cannot become relient on tax breaks.

ckruesel said...

The tax proposal is good for both the Republicans and the Democrats. The Republicans are pleased with the tax proposal because it continues to take tax pressure off the rich. The Democrats are pleased with the tax proposal because it will only last for two years and it extends unemployment benefits which help the unemployed. I think this proposal will benefit the country because the rich help drive our economy and create jobs so we shouldn’t tax them heavily.

nspoerk said...

I do believe that this legislation had the potential to benefit; however, it also has the potential to cause significant harm. It depends on how much spending goes on in conjunction with the extended tax cuts.

These tax cuts will leave money in Americans' wallets, leading to greater consumer confidence and increased spending by the citizens. This flow of money among consumers will, in turn, stimulate the economy far more than the Obama packages. With a thriving economy, we can also bring in more business from the world's market, pumping more money into the country. However, with these cuts passed, the government will also have less money coming in from the income taxes.

This means that the federal budget size is crucial in determining if this is good for the country. If Congress continues to approve spending packages with face values in twelve digits, the government will not be able to support them all financially and the defecit will rise. The outcome is that the economy will improve in the short term but will probably collapse again when debt catches up with us. That lucky next generation.

On the other hand, this could be good for the economy if the budget is significantly reduced for the next couple years--or decades, depending on how much more spending is squeezed in by the Obama Administration. If the government spends less than it takes in, we will have more money. What a novel idea. In this way, our economy could begin to flourish under lower taxes and a balanced budget. (Does the word balanced even exist in our government anymore?)

Ok, enough cynicism torards our venerable, esteemed leaders. My final point: this tax cut extension is good for the country if, and only if, the action is matched by a significant effort in the government to show some fiscal responsibility in federal spending.

GLeGros said...

In my eyes, i believe that this bill, or parts of it, have the potential to benefit not only both political parties, but the nation as a whole. If this tax package were to pass, it would help to stimulate the economy through extending the tax cuts for an additional two years. These equal tax cuts make sense for those who are making millions of dollars because they are generally business owners who employ other people. If they were, however, taxed at a higher rate than those who make less, this effectively takes away potential jobs because it takes away money from the potential employers. While this bill (like all bills) has some negative aspects, I believe that the benefits would help the economy tremendously.

DWayer said...

As others have stated previously, this bill will be beneficial in the short term, but in the upcoming few years, it has high possibility to severely damage the economy even more than where it is at now. Despite this significant risk, I believe it is a bill we should take a chance on, because if these tax cuts are not extended, the economy runs into the danger of being hurt even worse than the potential damage from the aftermath of this bill. These tax cuts, of course, have their benefits and disadvantages for both Republicans and Democrats. A benefit for the Republicans, also a disadvantage for the Democrats, is the tax cuts for the wealthy, a piece of the bill that the Republicans have been pushing for for a while. Overall, this compromise between the two parties could be a huge success for the country, but only time will show these tax cuts true effects on the economy.

MAnderson said...

I think it should be passed. I think is definitely good short term wise. This is gonna bring more money into the economy. Long term this may increase the deficit, and the good things it will do for the economy now, may not even benefit us in the long run

jgoebl said...

I believe this bill should pass because it allows the middle class to retain more money to spend in the economy. They will feel confident to spend money beccause they will not have similar taxes for a while.

Rjohnson-evers said...

Extending the tax cuts is a necessary measure to ensure that the economy continues to recover. I am also encouraged by the bipartisan nature of the bill. I think that this is a good bill for both the Republicans and Democrats. The Democrats get tax cuts for the lower and middle class and unemployment benefits, while the Republicans get tax cuts for the upper class.
The obvious problem with this legislature is the amount of money it will cost, and how it will add to the debt.

mpavelko said...

I believe that the bill should not pass because of the social competence that the people will have towards the government. Meaning that the people will be too dependent on the resiliant government and get what's coming to them later. Companies will not make any attempts to grow or make ideas on their own therefore the people and businesses will fail due to relying on the government. Then they will blame the government and its just a communist type government waiting to happen. This is a democratic bill so it is good for the democrats.

zhopp said...

I think that this bill should pass. If the bill does not pass, large business owners will be hurt by the higher taxes, and they will then be less inclined to either give raises to their employees, or to create new jobs. In our struggling economy, that is what we do not want. Passing this bill should, at least for now, help our struggling economy

CAbbey said...

The tax cuts should pass because the majority of Americans are middle or lower class, so an extra 3000 or so dollars in their pocket at the end of the tax year will help boost consumer spending and give them confidence to purchase things, leading to better jobs numbers. Unemployment is still too high, if taxes are raised, the consumer will not spend, stalling the recovering economy and possibly sending it into a decline. Eventually they should come to an end, and for everyone not just upper class. Its good for everyone right now.

Mwirch said...

This bill should not pass only because it will have negative long term effects on businesses and the economy. However, Obama has made the right decision in attempting to extend the Bush era tax cuts and pass him as more bipartisan.

moconnor said...

I believe that it should pass because of the short term benefits it could have. These tax breaks may have some negative long term effects because it might cause businesses to become too reliant on government spending. However, I think that the upper class deserves a little bit of relief on their taxes because they earned the money than gain. The upper class also needs this money to employee workers and create jobs. I believe that this tax passage is good for both the Democrats and the Republicans. It's good for the Democrats because it shows that they are willing to compromise with the Republicans to get something done in congress. It's also good for the Republicans because it would be a way for them to sneak in a conservative legislation while still in the Democratic denominate lame duck session.

JBerlyn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JBerlyn said...

I do not think this tax package should pass because it does much more bad than good. The only positive aspect of the bill,from the perspective of the citizens, is the tax breaks on the lower and middle classes. An extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for the middle/lower classes will greatly benefit these people and help with the economy's continued growth. The other positive aspects of the package are the 13 month extension of the federal benefits for the jobless, and the temporary payroll tax cuts. These should be the only tax incentives given out because they help the middle and lower classes-- those who are the most in need.
The parts of the package that are unnecessary include the extension of Bush's upper class tax breaks and the incredibly generous estate tax provisions for the millionaires and billionaires. The upper class should not receive tax breaks because they will have plenty of money to live extremely comfortably regardless of their tax rate and because the federal deficit must be reduced. Although the upper class is taxed at higher percentage rate than the lower classes to begin with, a slight increase would still be barely noticeable for them.
The estate tax provisions are also outrageous. Not only does it provide no tax on estate's less than 10 million dollars, it will cost the country 68 million dollars and only affect around 7,000 families. Money that could be spent elsewhere is spent on preventing the extremely wealthy from being taxed on their inheritances.
The package also worsens the national debt because the taxes on the upper class would help give the government money to spend on important issues or reducing the deficit. Rather than doing that, the government will now be forced into cutting important spending, thus further threatening the lives of Americans. The focus of the deficit reduction comes form tax increases and cutting spending on large programs such as Medicare, Social Security and national defense. Now it looks like these programs will suffer even more to make up for the lost money in potential taxes.
Lastly, Obama should stick to the policies that helped get him elected. Despite his opposition of tax breaks for the wealthy, he understands he must find some way to continue the tax breaks for the lower and middle classes by January as promised. The Republicans do not realize they are hurting not only Obama but the entire nation with their stubbornness. With the realization that Obama must pass some sort of bill that gives tax breaks to the majority of Americans by January, upon which time they will have control of the House,
Republicans are not going to allow any bill to pass without their own, costly and ineffective tax breaks. Some see this as bipartisan "negotiation," but it is quite the opposite. It is Republican manipulation of Obama at the cost of the citizens. Unless Obama is able to cut major spending in other areas on next year's budget, these tax breaks will prove costly to a deficit that will continue to grow by a trillion dollars annually, regardless of economic growth.
Good thing Wisconsin sent experienced, fiscally responsible Ron Johnson to the Senate...

RPawlow said...

In my opinion, this should not pass. The economy, companies most notably, needs to dig itself out of the hole it's in. Progress will remain stagnant if assistance is constantly offered and there for all companies to use. By holding everyone's hand, the American economy has to drag along too many non-contributing, doomed-for-failure, infant companies that are kept alive, not pushed forward, by this unnecessary and foolishly warranted aid.