Going Against Former Boss, Obama’s Former Budget Director Says Bush Tax Cuts Should Be Extended for Two Years

“Orszag writes that “the best approach is a compromise: extend the tax cuts for two years and then end them altogether.” – ABC News
Finally some sanity comes out of Washington DC.
Oops! Strike that. Orszag is the former OMB director.
Wow, what bad luck for Obama, someone finally starts to get a grip on what to do about the Tax Cuts and he no longer has his ear.

I object to the term “wealthy” or “wealthiest” being used for people making $200,000-250,000. It is a loaded term used by proponents of people who want to raise taxes.
It is remarkable how much the government can argue about whether tax cuts are “affordable”- always meaning whether they are “affordable” to the government. When do they care if they are affordable to the taxpayers?
People paying for college, paying mortgages, and saving for retirement shouldn’t be seen as easy sources of revenue for a government that SHOULD well understand how difficult it is to budget.

At least Orszag had the brains to jump ship early. Romer left just in time. Wait till you see the rush for the exits…

So Orszag says we eventually need to end the Bush tax cuts because they are “not affordable,” even though he seems to grudgingly concede tax increases harm the economy. Mr. Orszag, do you and your fellow liberals not even comprehend that tax increases are not affordable to many of us, or in your eyes are we simply serfs working to fund all the wasteful and excessive spending by the government?

those making over 250k either employ people, and we should be thanking them or thats the fully loaded benefit and pension package of union members working for the state of california or the federal govt. average govt worker 118,000 a year while meadian family income is around 45000. should be the other way around and we all know it. the king is about to fall and the peasants rejoice in the streets.

I am sick of the whining of people who make over 250K a year. You whine more than homeless people, who have absolutely NOTHING. Tax the rich and get it over with. The Bush tax cuts for the wealthy have been a disaster for this country and part of the reason we are in this economic mess in the first place. There is no trickle down. The rich just squirrel the extra savings away. They do not hire with it.

Go to a flat tax….15%. No IRS, no filing, just pay it and thats it. And NO tax increases without a vote of the people! Congress doesnt give a D**n about the people!

“those making over 250k either employ people, and we should be thanking them”
Its amazing how the right wing screams about liberty but rushes to kiss the ring (being charitable) of the wealthy.

ryanc…where i live 100 city workers…CITY WORKERS make over 250k a year counting pensions and benefits. the private sector employs people and the dems have done them in and villified them. when you have a president who has NEVER WORKED IN THE PRIVATE sector this is waht you get,nothing…like what you get when you go to the govt for help…nothing. game over dems and unions.

Catman,
A. 100 City Workers out of how many total City workers? Also it doesn’t really matter if they work for the city, state, federal, non-profit, llc, partnership or corporation. The employer is irrelevant.
B. When you are talking about “including pensions and benefits” are those pensions and benefits part of their taxable income? If not, this doesn’t apply either.

“ryanc…where i live 100 city workers…CITY WORKERS make over 250k a year counting pensions and benefits.”
Wow and that is relevant how exactly?
I guess the real question is why you feel such fealty to the wealthy?

I guess the real question is why you feel such fealty to the wealthy?
===========
No, the question is how much of other people’s money do you feel you deserve?
And how much can you take from them with the argument they need to stop whining?
And why is it easier for the government to decide individuals can pay higher taxes than it is for them to decide what budget cuts the government itself has to make?

I’ve read a lot of this coverage, and can only say that John Cole is right. Your coverage is MSM hacktastic, and the reason why nobody from younger generations can stand to listen to your non-reportage, airwave filling bunk.

ryanc…when the public sector makes more money than the private sector its a huge problem. if private sector wages have been cut so should the public sector.kind of like going to spain for a vacation when the peasants are starving. libs are so out of touch and thats why they are getting trounced. spin it how you want but no one is buying what your party is selling. kind of sad to think that 535 people control the lives of 330 million and not listening to them.

The real ‘stimulus’ will begin once we end the massive payoffs for the rich and do away with these devastatig Bush tax cuts once and for all!

“Most rich people make their money of the backs of others”- what a statement of class envy!”
No, its simply the truth.
Even one of your fellow right wingers realizes that.

Code Pink —- The money we earn is ours, except for what our government deems necessary. Quick lesson for you:
Taxes—Money our government takes from us to run programs throughout the country.
Tax cuts—- People keeping a little more of the money they actually worked for.
Deficit—-Government SPENDING more than they take in.
National debt—-Government COMPLETELY mismanaging tax revenues.
Again, a tax cut is the governemtn allowing us to keep more of what we make. A tax cut does not add to the deficit, only government overspending does. Our government needs to shrink and spend less. What percentage of your wages are you willing to let the government mismanage?

“A tax cut does not add to the deficit, only government overspending does.”
This bit of semantic sophistry brought to you by the GOP.
Most of our budget is non discretionary spending(defense, Social Security, MediCare etc).
So if you cut taxes that fund non discretionary spending you end up with a budget deficit.
The GOP in two separate incarnations (Reagan, than Bush) ramped up spending while cutting taxes in hopes that government would collapse upon itself.
After all if the GOP were able to put the country in severe enough debt then we would have to get rid of Social Security and Medicare right?

Ryan C —– Wow, so Bush and Reagan wanted to implode our government? Conspiracy theory? So what do you call the spending going on now?

“Wow, so Bush and Reagan wanted to implode our government? Conspiracy theory?”
Its called Starve the Beast, a phrase coined by Reagan’s budget director and something quite a few right wingers have been advocating since Reagan’s time.
The goal is to enact tax cuts while ramping up budget deficits in order to deprive any funding for entitlement or regulatory programs.
If its a conspiracy theory someone better tell Grover Norquist!

“Ryan C —- It appears you are looking for a public beholden to the government.”
Psssst we are thanks to the budget deficit philosophy of the GOP.
But thanks for confirming that you don;t know much about economics beyond what is feed to you.

The economy started going dow the tubes two years ago in anticipation of the “Bush” tax cuts going away. Extending the cuts 2 years will not have the desired benefit because of its temporary nature!

Government is the only place where you can outspend the money you have.
Anybody else makes a budget fit to their income if they wish to stay afloat.
The government should be forced to have massive permanent cuts to their budget. Start with useless government jobs and programs.

Here is what happens if the tax cuts expire: people making $250,000 will have less take home pay.So,they cut back on going out.Restaurants lose income and people get laid off.They stop taking vacations,so travel associated businesses lose income and people get laid off.They stop spending on non-essential items,so retail stores lose money and people get laid off.That automobile that was affordable last year becomes unaffordable with decreased income,so they buy a used car and auto dealerships have top lay people off. Those rich people decide that they can’t afford that remodeling job,so construction people get laid off.Of course,the guy making $255,000 may say screw it,it isn’t worth the effort to work harder,so he downsizes his business and lays people off.With fewer people working, tax revenues go down.

“So,they cut back on going out.Restaurants lose income and people get laid off.They stop taking vacations,so travel associated businesses lose income and people get laid off.They stop spending on non-essential items,so retail stores lose money and people get laid off.That automobile that was affordable last year becomes unaffordable with decreased income,so they buy a used car and auto dealerships have top lay people off”
Nephron, you’re describing most Americans but not the wealthy.
“Of course,the guy making $255,000 may say screw it,it isn’t worth the effort to work harder”
Several things….
First tax burden difference between someone who makes $249,000 and $255,000 is minimal.
You really have no idea how taxes work do you?
“it isn’t worth the effort to work harder,so he downsizes his business and lays people off.”
So to make work easier because of an increased tax burden of 3% on monye he earns over $250K a construction worker is going to layoff his helpers?
Are you serious?
You really have no idea how any thing works do you?

Sigmonde: 57% of Americans disapprove of Obama’s economic policies. Obama doesn’t care about what Americans need, he cares only about what the left wants.
That’s right. Because the left wanted a continued war in Afghanistan, a meek healthcare reform package, no punishment for Wall Street, no investigations into 10 years of the Bush Cheney Crime Syndicate, 70% of the stimulus bill going to tax cuts, Guantanomo kept open, etc. etc.
Everyone is talking about the momentum gap for Democrats. Is that because in your mind they are ecstatically happy with a president who “always does what the left wants”, and thus they will reward him by shunning his party?
I mean, do you people even listen to yourselves?
Also: Death Panels!

jvill, my partner and I have an income in the same range as yours, and we do indeed run a small business. I understand marginal tax rates just fine, thanks so much, so your condescension towards Nephron won’t fly with me. Yes, the change in tax rates will change our behavior as small businesspeople, and already has. The existing tax rates should be continued.
As I mentioned in another thread, we and others I know in similar financial circumstances, are postponing spending, but not on flat-screen tvs as Mr. gibbs sarcastically suggests. top tax bracket folks are postponing purchases of luxury goods. More importantly, they/we are postponing taking economic risks with our small businesses, in part because the payoff is about to be reduced by higher taxes and in part because when that tax increase does not make a dint in the deficit, there’s no telling what the next hair-brained scheme to come out of this administration will be.

Dave, Are you talking about
“The wisdom and folly of the Bush tax cuts: Americans can’t have low taxes, high spending and stay solvent” (Peter Coy)
I like this line: “Some people who once championed tax cuts unconditionally have a new catchphrase — or more precisely an old one that’s been repurposed: There’s no free lunch.”
No tax fairy either.
The Dem position is to extend the tax cuts for those making under $250,000. I encourage people to get the facts, and to separate them from the myths.
As a reminder to everyone, the nonpartisan CBO ranked extension of the Bush tax cuts dead last for effectiveness among the viable stimulus options.
And yet its the only thing Republicans recommend. They’ve voted against the American worker, small business owner, teacher, police officer, researcher, scientist.

Government overspending..that makes me laugh. The republicans have been overspending for the last 8 yrs. and have nothing, nothing to show for it but a crummy recession and failing banks, housing, jobs, insurance companies running the world. That is not what is best for this country. The democrats have had to spend to keep us out of a recession. The governors who once resisted the stimulus have now signed up for the health care benefits for employees who take early retirement. The governor of Va. said the stimulus helped a bit..a bit..to the tune of 3.5 billion dollars which he used to get out of debt instead of hiring. These people make me laugh..do they think we don’t read and listen to people with open minds. Well, most do this and can stand up to any one of those who say Obama has not helped ths country. Republicans and tea party people like to say social sec is an entitlement program..it is not..we paid into it our entire working lives and we don’t want it privitized as well as unemployment. Medicare is good for the elderly and we don’t want it cut back and when all is said about this health care bill, you will see it has something in it for everyone. Hopefully, if we get our act together and forget about the rep. we can get the public option back also. People read, don’tlisten to the nuts running out there who want to tell us how to live and control us in regard to freedom of choices. they want to monitor pregnant ladies to make sure they do not have abortions,want to do away with the education dept., privitize soc. sec. cut back medicare, allow people to not serve certain people again and not rent to certain people again..something we fought for 20 yars ago. Do you want to go backwards? I don’t I like the progress we have made in education,controlling insurance,banks, and the economy will get better..it won’t happen in 18 months it took 8 years to happen and they started with a surplus..this president started with a deficit and a recession. do you remember this?

“What I remember is that you think that the Senate Majority Leader is named Reade.Briiliant analysis,Ein stein.”
Mis-spelling the senate majority leader’s name versus being a birther.
I still think you;re way ahead on idiocy points Nephie.

“Posted by: Nephron | Sep 8, 2010 3:17:16 PM”
Awww Nephie’s wittle birther bwain is bwoken.

Posted by: jvill
“Everyone here knows all the answers,so why arent some of you professionals on this opinion become president and get out of this hole the USA is in?”
So your solution is for everyone to shut up, stop voicing their opinions, and simply accept what this administration says is gospel? Did you know it was an everyday, average plumber that came up with the solution to BP’s oil spill problems. If BP had continued to follow your advice there would still be oil flowing unchecked into the Gulf.