Cutting taxes for the wealthy? Again?

[n2doc]

By Steve Benen

In his unnervingly dishonest op-ed for USA Today this week, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) assured voters his party isn’t just obsessed with going after President Obama. “At the same time,” he argued, “we remain focused on the American people’s top priority: jobs and the economy.”

What possible rationale could there be to justify such a claim? It’s actually pretty simple: House Republicans continue to pass tax cuts. Ergo, Boehner thinks he’s telling the truth when he claims the GOP is focused on “jobs and the economy,” all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding.

It didn’t get much attention, but late last week, House Republicans quietly approved yet another tax break, this time advancing a tax policy that benefits the wealthy while hurting the poor. Danny Vinik had a good piece on this:

Here’s how the [Child Tax Credit] currently works: Couples receive a maximum credit of $1,000 per-child, meaning they can lower their tax bill by that amount. For instance, a couple with two kids and an income of $50,000 would owe $8,356 in federal income taxes. With the CTC, they would reduce their tax bill by $2,000, to $6,356. However, not everyone is eligible for the credit. Those with income below $3,000 cannot collect it. And for couples, the credit begins phasing out at $110,000 and is entirely phased out at $150,000. For singles, those numbers are $75,000 and $115,000, respectively.

Thus, the current design of the CTC creates a marriage penalty. For instance, imagine a couple where each person makes $60,000. Separately, they would both be eligible to collect the full credit. But combined, their income ($120,000) would exceed the current phase-out threshold for couples filing jointly. Therefore, the couple could maximize their after-tax income by living together, but not marrying.

Now, there’s very little to suggest this disincentive actually has a real-world impact, but House Republicans nevertheless advanced a policy they’ve wanted for years: they made it so that a couple can collect the same tax break, even if they file jointly. The same bill raised the phase-out ceiling to $150,000 and indexed it to inflation. The price tag: $115 billion over the next decade.

What’s wrong with that? If you’re a deficit hawk, quite a bit, but there’s a more glaring concern here: the House GOP measure was structured to punish the poor while benefiting the rich.

more
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/cutting-taxes-the-wealthy-again

[jwirr]

1. If that is what they are saying it will not be a help to them in 2014. No one thinks that the rich

need another tax break and we also are beginning to understand that tax cuts do not create jobs.

[n2doc]

2. They don't care

I expect that they are counting on the average voter not paying attention. And if someone calls them on it, they will just say they are helping out middle class married families, how could anyone be against that? Everything else is swept under the rug.

[obxhead]

3. They don't want to create jobs.

Low unemployment rates drive wages higher. Things are almost exactly as they want them. Another point or two in additional unemployed should be just about right.