AP: Senate GOP Tentatively Agrees on $1.5 Trillion Tax Cut

[Frodo]

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[Ebsy]

Can't use budget reconciliation to pass a tax reform package that increases the deficit.

[Ronnie]

Can't use budget reconciliation to pass a tax reform package that increases the deficit.

I thought they could, but that it would just sunset after 10 years?

[Ban my account ffs!]

What idiots.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

The Bush tax cuts were sold as economic stimulus. We ended up with the worst recession in 80 years.

[JA]

Republicans during the Obama Presidency: BUT THE DEFICIT!!!!!!

Republicans during any Republican Presidency: We must cut taxes and massively expand the defense budget *not a single mention of the deficit*

[JA]

The Bush tax cuts were sold as economic stimulus. We ended up with the worst recession in 80 years.

Anyone with a brain knows tax cuts aren't intended for economic stimulus and don't do anything to improve any important indicators of economic well-being for the majority of Americans. Their sole purpose is to help the rich get richer, concentrate more power in their hands, and let them accumulate even more wealth to sit on while inequality and financial insecurity for ordinary Americans worsens. It's a naked power grab, plain and simple.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Republicans during the Obama Presidency: BUT THE DEFICIT!!!!!!

Republicans during any Republican Presidency: We must cut taxes and massively expand the defense budget *not a single mention of the deficit*

The last few decades have made it clear as crystal that Republicans come in two flavors: stupid and evil. Expecting any of them to care about their blatant hypocrisy is dangerously naive.

[pbrower2a]

Government  of the moneyed elites, by the moneyed elites, and for the moneyed elites shall not perish from the Earth.

1929-1932 meltdown, here we come! We voted for this monstrosity of a government, and we deserve the consequences. We will be catching up with China in living standards -- from the wrong direction.

What happens next? The government runs deficits that can be solved only with onerous taxes on consumption -- basically the workingman pays a heavy sales tax on milk so that the plutocrat can hi9re more domestic staff.

[Kamala]

Government  of the moneyed elites, by the moneyed elites, and for the moneyed elites shall not perish from the Earth.

1929-1932 meltdown, here we come! We voted for this monstrosity of a government, and we deserve the consequences. We will be catching up with China in living standards -- from the wrong direction.

What happens next? The government runs deficits that can be solved only with onerous taxes on consumption -- basically the workingman pays a heavy sales tax on milk so that the plutocrat can hi9re more domestic staff.

RIP USA. HP.

[OSR stands with Israel]

The Bush tax cuts were sold as economic stimulus. We ended up with the worst recession in 80 years.

Lmao the bush tax cuts had little to do with the crash or recession

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The tax rates are being cut to meet the needs of the decreasing tax rates.

[President Johnson]

But tell me again which one the fiscally responsible party is.

What we need is at least a revenue-neutral tax reform to benefit the middle-class and small business; in a combination with wise spending cuts and cost savings by eliminating waste and bureaucracy to balance the budget. The GOP will never get it done unless John Kasich is president.

[MasterJedi]

So are the free market fairies supposed to give us all the money we need for infrastructure and keeping the government running then?

[Bismarck]

Wow. There are certainly solid legitimate arguments against tax cuts right now but the hysteria in this thread is real. As a side note, Hoover rasing taxes at beginning of the downturn that became the Great Depression had much more to do with the worsening economic situation than any examples mentioned here.

[RINO Tom]

The Bush tax cuts were sold as economic stimulus. We ended up with the worst recession in 80 years.

Yeah, THAT'S what caused the recession. LMFAO.

The Bush tax cuts were sold as economic stimulus. We ended up with the worst recession in 80 years.

Anyone with a brain knows tax cuts aren't intended for economic stimulus and don't do anything to improve any important indicators of economic well-being for the majority of Americans. Their sole purpose is to help the rich get richer, concentrate more power in their hands, and let them accumulate even more wealth to sit on while inequality and financial insecurity for ordinary Americans worsens. It's a naked power grab, plain and simple.

Wut.  That's ridiculous.  Tax cuts shouldn't be coupled with expanding the debt, but to say they aren't designed to have a positive economic effect or that they literally don't do anything to improve Americans' economic well-being is insane.

[mvd10]

To be fair 1.5 trillion "isn't that much". It's 0.6% of GDP, which is less than half the cost of the Bush tax cuts. I think they will couple permanent revenue neutral tax reform with temporary tax cuts (so the actual tax reform is permanent while the hike in the standard deduction or whatever they decide to do is temporary). If 1.5 trillion is the price for comprehensive tax reform (and not just a tax cut in disguise, which still is the most likely outcome) I think it's worth it. The US shouldn't rush into austerity like Europe did (yes, I would have preferred more reforms and less austerity in Europe and in my own country), it's better to reduce the deficit by gradually reforming programs like Medicare and Social Security.

[Brittain33]

Wait until the Tea Party hears what this will do to the deficit—there will be thousands marching in the streets.

[JA]

The Bush tax cuts were sold as economic stimulus. We ended up with the worst recession in 80 years.

Anyone with a brain knows tax cuts aren't intended for economic stimulus and don't do anything to improve any important indicators of economic well-being for the majority of Americans. Their sole purpose is to help the rich get richer, concentrate more power in their hands, and let them accumulate even more wealth to sit on while inequality and financial insecurity for ordinary Americans worsens. It's a naked power grab, plain and simple.

Wut.  That's ridiculous.  Tax cuts shouldn't be coupled with expanding the debt, but to say they aren't designed to have a positive economic effect or that they literally don't do anything to improve Americans' economic well-being is insane.

Except that it's not. As a Republican, I'd obviously expect you to support tax cuts and to argue that they're beneficial to society. However, I don't see how they remotely benefit anyone who isn't at least middle to upper middle class; in fact, by expanding wealth inequality they contribute to the worsening of our social and economic conditions by further concentrating economic and political power into already disproportionately powerful hands. Sure, you could argue that tax cuts benefit those with low incomes by improving the job market by allowing companies to expand and the wealthy to invest more money, but that's utter horse manure. The wealthy sit on their money more than spend it. The best way to generate economic growth is to ensure that middle and lower-income Americans have more disposable income; they spend their money, the wealthy hoard theirs when they aren't spending it on securing their position in society. So, if you really want to help the American economy, you'd raise the minimum wage, dramatically increase the social safety net, and keep Americans above the poverty line.

[Blackacre]

Think of everything you could do with 1.5 trillion! All the things that would be so much better for this nation than a tax cut. This is.... very, very frustrating

[Santander]

Still have not rejected voodoo economics.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Still have not rejected voodooFriedmanian economics.

of course not

[ProudModerate2]

Republicans during the Obama Presidency: BUT THE DEFICIT!!!!!!

Republicans during any Republican Presidency: We must cut taxes and massively expand the defense budget *not a single mention of the deficit*

[Ban my account ffs!]

The Bush tax cuts were sold as economic stimulus. We ended up with the worst recession in 80 years.

Yeah, THAT'S what caused the recession. LMFAO.

The Bush tax cuts were sold as economic stimulus. We ended up with the worst recession in 80 years.

Anyone with a brain knows tax cuts aren't intended for economic stimulus and don't do anything to improve any important indicators of economic well-being for the majority of Americans. Their sole purpose is to help the rich get richer, concentrate more power in their hands, and let them accumulate even more wealth to sit on while inequality and financial insecurity for ordinary Americans worsens. It's a naked power grab, plain and simple.

Wut.  That's ridiculous.  Tax cuts shouldn't be coupled with expanding the debt, but to say they aren't designed to have a positive economic effect or that they literally don't do anything to improve Americans' economic well-being is insane.

The guy working at a bank probably shouldn't enter discussions about what caused the last recession.

[ProudModerate2]

Still have not rejected voodoo Friedmanian voodoo economics.

Santander had it right the first time.