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Boehner’s ‘plan B’ would redistribute wealth UPWARDS
Boehners plan B would redistribute wealth upwards -http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2012/12/20/boehners-plan-b-would-redistribute-wealth-upwards/
(emphases my own)
As Greg noted this morning, John Boehner is scrambling to secure Republican votes for Plan B, his alternative to the fiscal cliff compromise which would only raise taxes on income over $1 million. Boehner wants to be able to present himself as willing to compromise, but unwilling to go as far as President Obama wanted, which probably wont work, because most Americans see GOP policies as too extreme, and have far more faith in Obamas ability to handle economic problems than they do the GOPs.
Whats missing from the discussion here is that the ideas that undergird plan B were already rejected by voters in the 2012 elections. While Republicans are selling this plan as proof they are willing to target the rich, the reality is that Plan B simply repackages a range of conservative ideas that would redistribute wealth upwards.
In particular, Plan B would retain the massive estate tax cuts pushed by Republicans in 2010 and passed in exchange for a larger earned income tax credit and it would block limits on itemized deductions for high income earners, which are scheduled to go into effect on January 1st. A recent analysis from the Tax Policy Center found that the latter would provide people with incomes over $1 million an average tax cut of $118,000 each. The former is even more egregious; under Plan B, the estate tax would only apply to estates worth more than $5 million, at a cost of $119 billion in revenue over the next ten years. And this money wouldnt go towards struggling farms or small businesses (loosely defined) it would go to the richest .3 percent of Americans who die each year, in effect, transferring huge amounts of national income to the nations wealthiest families.
On top of all of this, as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows, is the fact that Boehners Plan B allows key improvements in tax credits for low income workers to lapse at the same time that it preserves benefits for the richest Americans. The Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit which were boosted in 2009 and 2010 would lose substantial value: Under Plan B, notes the CBPP, a mother with two children who works full time at the minimum wage of $7.25 and earns $14,500 a year would lose $1,560 of her Child Tax Credit, which would plummet from $1,725 to $165.
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Boehner’s ‘plan B’ would redistribute wealth UPWARDS (Original Post)
Bill USA
Dec 2012
OP
riqster
(13,986 posts)1. Which is why he proposed it (nt)
TimKeller
(41 posts)2. Great post!
Just wrote about this on my blog as well - The Stubborn Mule
http://unapologeticallyliberal.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/kicking-screaming-merry-cliffmas/
Bill USA
(6,436 posts)3. Nice blog. here's a picture of Boehner you might want to use...
url: "thinkprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Boehner1.jpg"... with http:// in the front of course. (if I put the http:// in there, even in quotes, it shows the picture!
Got it, as url indicates, from ThinkProgress. I used it here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251264632
Judi Lynn
(160,219 posts)5. Perhaps his best. Thank you. n/t
Thats perfect. I will use that one next time for sure
cbrer
(1,831 posts)4. It's hard to imagine
the GOP winning another (unrigged) election in this nation.
If enough evidence of their kowtowing to the rich doesn't exist now, it never will.
Pelosi had better start singing from the highest mountain.
Bill USA
(6,436 posts)6. I like the way she expresses herself!