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Monday, October 30, 2006
The Rule of (Loop)Holes: Stop Digging
An editorial in this week's Sunday New York Times ("Future Tax Shock") exposes a flagrant absurdity in President Bush's scaring voters about tax increases under a Democratic Congress.
Having failed to show the leadership and spend the political capital necessary to enact major tax reforms, Bush, through his massive tax cuts, has forced tens of millions of Americans to pay the Alternative Minimum Tax (ATM), which "is supposed to snare multimillionaires who would otherwise get away with using excessive tax shelters to wipe out their tax bills. But these days, the alternative tax is snaring many upper-middle-income filers."
The truth is, the president and lawmakers are paralyzed. To fix the alternative tax while keeping the Bush tax cuts on the books would result in the loss of some $800 billion in revenue over 10 years, blowing a hole in the federal budget and exposing how utterly unaffordable the tax cuts of the last five years really are.
The president wants to push off the day of reckoning until he leaves the White House, while whipping up voter fear of future tax increases. But the reality is that he and his supporters have laid the groundwork for higher taxes and hamstrung government, no matter who is in office in the months and years to come.
In the meantime, don't hold your breath for President Bush to stop digging.
Posted by Dana Chasin
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