While Americans were enthralled by the campaign rhetoric about "tax cuts" and the drama unfolding in congress to pass a "Bailout" to the bankers and investment bankers out there, congress actually trashed the small guy. It's time for a reality check.
Congress has appeared unwilling to act on the tax bill which includes extending tax breaks to million of Americans. This will allow the Alternative Minimum Tax, or AMT which has been described as a stealth tax, to ensnare about 25 MILLION Americans next year.
This has been reported in the WSJ and elsewhere and is not an accident. "Some fiscally conservative House Democrats have insisted that extensions of expiring tax cuts should be paid for so as not to add to the deficit."
Tax breaks that will be eliminated, therefor INCREASING taxes for the same Americans on "Main Street" that the politicians keep crying crocodile tears over, including the elimination of deductions for state sales taxes, deductions for college tuition, deductions for teachers to help pay for "out-of-pocket" classroom expenses.
Businesses will be dinged by the roll back or elimination of tax cuts for research and development, renewable energy credits and so on. This will, however, raise $Billions in taxes.
How does the congress justify this? To quote House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D., Md.) "We cannot continue simply using the credit card of the nation to continue to buy without paying for what we buy." A group of 49 fiscally conservative Democrats called the "Blue Dogs" have taken a hard stand. Said Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Calif. "It's time for us to say 'no more.'" One of the leaders of the group Rep. Mike Ross, D-Ark., was widely quoted as saying that they have "taken the morally and fiscally responsible position."
Meanwhile, congress is to work on legislation to pass $700B or more to bail out Wall Street and the banks. Should we be surprised that millions of Americans have said "enough"?
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