Republicans Will Raise Taxes — Just Not on the Wealthy
As we discussed recently, Republicans are holding middle class tax cuts hostage in order to give the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans yet another extra tax cut. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Republicans are now affirmatively proposing to raise taxes on tens of millions of poor and middle class Americans — even as they slash them on the wealthy.
Here’s the rundown.
If you want to know how Republicans really feel about the middle class, you need look no further than a doozy of a floor speech that Sen. Jon Kyl (AZ) — a member of the Senate Republican leadership — gave yesterday. Kyl attacked President Obama for “incessantly” talking about the middle class.
And it’s not just their rhetoric that shows disdain for the middle class, it’s their actual proposals.
TAX CUTS REPUBLICANS ARE HOLDING HOSTAGE:
- Tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans. (The wealthiest two percent would also still get a tax cut on their first $250,000 of income.)
TAX CUTS REPUBLICANS ARE INSISTING ON:
- An extra tax cut for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans, including millionaires and billionaires.
TAX INCREASES REPUBLICANS WANT:
- Limiting eligibility for the child tax credit, which constitutes a tax increase on 12 MILLION families. This works out to an average tax increase of $800 per family. In the case of a family made up of one person earning minimum wage and two children, the tax increase would be much larger according to one estimate: $1545.
- Curtailing tax credits for higher education expenses from $2500 a year to $1800 and reducing the years of eligibility from four years to two. This translates into an average tax increase of $1100 for 11 MILLION families.
- Cutting back on the earned income tax credit for families with three or more children and worsening the so-called “marriage penalty” on working poor couples, which translates into an average tax increase of $500 for 6 MILLION families.
All told, these Republican tax increases would hit more than 25 million poor, working, and middle class families.
Worse yet, Republicans aren’t even being honest about their plans to raise taxes on millions of Americans. Here’s what Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) claimed earlier today:
“Republicans will head into tomorrow’s vote guided by a simple principle: do no harm. In our view, the best approach to taxes right now is to let every American and every American business know they won’t have a higher income tax bill at the end of the year. We think everybody in America should have that certainty.”
Unfortunately, the only people Republicans are really interested in letting know that they won’t see a tax increase are the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans. Republicans claim to care about the middle class, but they are holding middle class tax cuts hostage. And even as they promise more tax giveaways to the wealthy, Republicans want to raise taxes on 25 MILLION families — including some of the poorest Americans.
Tomorrow, Senate Democrats will try and move forward with their plan to preserve middle class tax cuts while asking the wealthiest Americans to give up the extra tax cuts that they simply do not need and that we cannot afford.
IN ONE SENTENCE: Just like Mitt Romney, Republicans in Congress want to raise taxes on the middle class in order to give the wealthiest Americans yet another handout that they don’t need.
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