Here they go again.
This time, it’s an equally shameful attempt to urge Congress to extend the Bush/Obama tax cuts for the middle class tax which are scheduled to expire on January 1st. This time @whitehouse is urging Americans to tweet what $2,000 a year can do for them - $2,000 a year being the average increase in taxes for the middle class if the Bush/Obama tax cuts expire as required by current law.
Remember, in order to lower taxes when the government is running a deficit, one of three things has to happen to offset the lower revenue:
- We can borrow more money. Given our current deficit, borrowing more is probably not the best idea. Yes, money is cheap, but even if it’s free, it still needs to be paid back or refinanced in the future, and guess who’s paying for that through higher taxes and/or lower benefits? Our children and grandchildren, and that’s despicable.
- We can cut government spending. Despite being the only real solution, neither party has shown any ability to cut spending, and as President Obama and Governor Brown in California like to say, the only way to cut spending is to fire teachers, firefighters and policemen. There's also the elimination of all that government waste that for some reason hasn't already been eliminated.
- We can raise taxes on other Americans. Pure and straight income redistribution. Raise taxes on Peter, lower taxes for Paul. It’s only fair.
Cue the madness…
So, to recap, Peter’s taxes should go up to pay for Caitlan's mother’s nursing home fees, Tewale's piano lessons, a new car for Melissa, vacations for Laura, car insurance for John and Joelle's swim team dues.
The last two are priceless. Someone else (perhaps even their own kids and grandkids) should pay higher taxes because Robert and Sarah have decided to have 13 children between the two of them without adequately planning for them financially. It’s pathetic, and the worst part about it is that all of these #My2k tweets were re-tweeted by the official White House twitter account, and are therefore a direct endorsement from the President on how government resources, primarily tax revenue, should be spent.
We’re not opposed to minor increase in tax rates to pay down the debt or fund useful and important government functions. We are vehemently opposed to raising taxes so someone can go on more vacations and eat out at restaurants more frequently.
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