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Thursday, October 06, 2005
GOP Continues to Obsess Over New Tax Cuts
Division in Congress appear to be widening over plans to offset emergency spending in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The House seems intent on instituting an across the board cut to discretionary spending in addition to finding 10 percent more cuts in the reconciliation spending bill this fall, while the Senate has rejected the across the board cut and is focusing on the reconciliation bills and appropriations pork projects.
Yet neither chamber is being realistic or genuine in their quest to pay for Katrina spending. Even the most generous estimates of the total cuts Congress could enact to the budget would only pay for approximately 10 to 15 percent of expected Katrina costs. And while the justification for these cuts has been concerns about the deficit, the GOP is insisting on continuing with plans to pass $70 billion in unpaid-for new tax cuts this fall through the reconciliation process. This tax cut bill will actually increase the deficit, despite severe cuts to the budget that will leave Americans less secure, and is conterproductive to other efforts to find offsets for Katrina.
If Congress is truly concerned about dealing with the deficit in light of Katrina costs, it needs to address both the spending and revenue side of the equation. There is evidence some Republicans in the Senate are somewhat tuned into this reality, such as Sens. Lincoln Chafee (RI), George Voinovich (OH), and Susan Collins (ME). But it will take a more genuine effort by GOP leaders to revisit the necessity of tax cuts for the most well off in our society in order to change course this fall.
Posted by Adam Hughes
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