Democrats to Fight to Keep Tax Cuts for Rich

Axing the Bush tax cuts is just the start

(NEWSER) - Tim Geithner said something pretty interesting about the Bush tax cuts in his speech yesterday at the Center for American Progress. The Treasury secretary explained why the administration was letting the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% of Americans expire now. “The world is likely to view any temporary extension … as a prelude to a permanent extension,” he said, which would undermine world confidence in our willingness to reduce future deficits. More»

Chris Hayes hosts discussion on President Obama's tax plan

(NEWSER) - Chris Hayes hosted a feisty roundtable discussion today on MSNBC about the Buffet Rule, asking whether President Obama's attempt to tax the rich at 30% is just a "gimmick"—or, as Mitt Romney has warned, a needless "source of division."

• David Cay Johnson, Reuters columnist: "Ronald Reagan put a tax rate in of 28%; 20% is somehow confiscatory? This is absurd. The fact is, we are destroying our economy and making our country poorer because we’re not putting enough money into the basic services."

Quite a bit—but it likely won't happen

(NEWSER) - Warren Buffett made waves yesterday when he told the federal government to stop "coddling" him and other wealthy Americans and raise taxes on the rich. His plan would roll back the Bush tax cuts on people who earn more than $1 million and on capital gains and dividends income, and would close the loophole that allows a lower tax rate for hedge fund managers. But how much would it actually help? Quite a bit, writes David Kocieniewski in the New York Times : "The tax increase on all three fronts would generate as much as $500 billion in new revenue over the next decade." More»

By every metric, the cuts delivered less than promised

(NEWSER) - This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Bush tax cuts, and Annie Lowrey of Slate is looking for reasons to celebrate. Unfortunately, she can’t find any. They’re “a failure in every conceivable way,” she writes. In 2001, Bush promised the cuts would create jobs, generate wealth, and “starve the beast,” reducing the size of government. Even leaving aside the 2008 recession, they did none of those things. From 2003 to 2007, median wages actually fell. More»

Ends Bush tax cuts, adds public health care option

(NEWSER) - As the budget debate continues, the House Progressive Caucus has released a plan of its own—and it's all about taxes. Their proposal would end the Bush tax cuts, add new tax brackets for millionaires, and raise corporate taxes. It would also add a public option to health care and boost Medicare’s drug-price negotiating power—and it would allow for $1.4 trillion in new investments. The plan, House progressives say, would cut the deficit more than either President Obama’s or Paul Ryan’s over the next decade. More»