Tax Cut Chicanery (5) Running Out The Clock

UPDATE: Democrats have announced they are unwilling to bring the President’s compromise tax plan to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote.

Much of the communication from the political establishment targets people who are not inclined to spend hours verifying “information” in the media.  After the Bush tax cuts were enacted in 2003 the continuous deceptive message was that they were only for “the wealthy” or “the top 2%.”  

But now the Bush tax cuts are about to expire.  If Congress does not act there will be a substantial increase on every income tax payer, from top to bottom.

So now it’s time for a revised message.

The new message is that  President Obama and the Democrats want to extend the Bush tax rates for you, if you’re in the middle class but not for the hated wealthy.

Obama and the Democrats have controlled all three branches of government for  22 months.  Back in 2009, while they were still basking in the after-glow of their election triumph they could easily have passed legislation that would make the lower bracket Bush tax rates permanent while raising the upper bracket rates.  But apparently they wanted to keep their options open – including the option to let the all Bush tax rates expire, reaping a windfall for government.

After they decided not to deal with looming tax increases before the election, The Big Three, Obama, Reid and Pelosi solemnly promised they would enact appropriate legislation in the lame duck session.

But now the lame duck session is half over, House and Senate are on extended Thanksgiving vacation, and there has been only talk – no action.

Apparently, there are not enough Democratic votes to enact the upper bracket tax increase, even though all the Democrats who lost their seats in the election are still in place until the end of the year.

Apparently, the Big Three would rather let all the Bush tax rates expire than allow a vote on a bill that would extend them all because they know that bill would pass.