The Monster Republican Tax Hike

Last week I made a note to link to this post at Obsidian Wings. I just spotted the note.

Hilzoy notes the commentary in some quarters that:

Following the example set by their Senate brethren last Friday, House Democrats will adopt a budget resolution containing the largest tax increase in U.S. history amid massive national inattention.

Bet you didn’t know that, eh? The Dems are already pushing through the largest tax increase in US history! And nobody is paying attention!

Anyway, Hilzoy digs a bit further into the story. It really is owrth reading.

Long story short… Republican Congresses chose not to make their tax cuts (or, as PGL would note, their tax deferrments) permanent. They didn’t have to put in a sunset clause – they chose to, in an attempt to make long term projections look better. Even with that obfuscation, the situation no longer looks quite so rosy. But… if the new Democratic Congress doesn’t do what the Republican Congresses that preceded it failed to do, namely make the tax cut permanent, well, that’s the equivalent of the Democrats pushing the largest tax increase in history.

Maybe its just me… but since this whole thing was planned and executed by a Republican Congress under a Republican President, shouldn’t we be refering to this as the Republican’s tax increase? And my bet is that there are a lot of Republicans in Congress now, and that will be seeking re-election some time soon, that voted for this massive tax increase.