TMDC: "Republicans Reject Taxes On The Rich To Pay For Jobs Bill," Even As A Deficit Neutral Trigger

[TomCADem]

President Obama's job bill does not specifically impose a tax on the rich, but merely includes it as an enforceable mechanism to keep the bill deficit neutral. The Super Committee is free to come up with a better idea for paying for the bill. Nonetheless, Republicans who claim they are against widening the deficit and are supposedly concerned about jobs are rejecting this deficit neutral language because it might hurt the rich. Of course, the corporate media will refuse to call Republicans out on their hypocrisy.

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/09/republicans-reject-taxes-on-the-rich-to-pay-for-jobs-bill.php

"The half-trillion dollar tax hike the White House proposed yesterday will not only face a tough road in Congress among Republicans, but from Democrats too," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said on the Senate floor Tuesday morning.

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But if you read the jobs bill, it states in the dense language of legislation that the tax increases only take effect if the new Super Committee doesn't find an additional $450 billion in deficit reduction, beyond the $1.2 trillion they're tasked with passing.

"If a joint committee bill achieving an amount greater than "$1,650,000,000,000" in deficit reduction as provided in section 401(b)(3)(B)(i)(II) of this Act is enacted by January 15, 2012, then the amendments to the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 made by subtitles A through E of title IV of the American Jobs Act of 2011, shall not be in effect for any taxable year."

In other words, the White House's first choice would be for the Super Committee to "go big" and find much more deficit reduction than they're obligated to by the debt limit law. And they would count those additional savings toward the cost of the jobs bill. But if the panel can't do more than the bare minimum, the tax increases would go into effect.