Who Wanted What? - James Kwak

[Mass]

http://baselinescenario.com/2010/12/10/who-wanted-what/

The Baseline Scenario
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Who Wanted What?
with 7 comments

By James Kwak

Look, I’m familiar with the argument for the tax cut deal. It’s not a terrible argument. In simple form, it goes, the top priorities are to stimulate the economy and to cushion the impact of unemployment, and a two-year tax cut extension was worth it to get that, especially since we can kill the Bush tax cuts in 2012. Now, no one who wasn’t born yesterday buys that bit about killing the Bush tax cuts in 2012, but you could still make the argument that two years of stimulus is worth making the tax cuts effectively permanent. (I don’t agree, but it’s not a crazy argument.)

But that’s not Austan Goolsbee’s argument on YouTube.

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Basically he’s trying to convince you that Obama won: Republicans wanted the top-end tax cuts and Obama wanted the “middle-class” tax cuts, and Obama conceded the top-end tax cuts, but in exchange he won lots of other great things: unemployment insurance extension, some sweeteners to the earned income tax credit, American Opportunity tax credit (for college), some sweeteners to the child tax credit, lower payroll tax, and an extension of some business investment credits.

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To call this framing disingenous would be kind. Republicans also wanted the “middle-class” tax cuts; they were the Bush tax cuts, after all, and I don’t recall any Republican saying we should only extend them for the very rich.
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So I would reorganize this as follows:

- Both sides wanted tax cuts for the lower 98%, the payroll tax cut, the investment tax credits, and the American Opportunity credit.
- Obama wanted the EITC expansion, extended unemployment benefits, and the sweetened child tax credit.
- Republicans wanted tax cuts for the top 2%.


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There’s a bigger issue. If you watch the video, the flow goes like this: “We wanted these tax cuts. The Republicans wanted these other tax cuts, and they were holding our tax cuts hostage. But we won, because not only did we get our tax cuts and they got theirs, but we got all these other tax cuts!” Face it, the only thing on that board that isn’t a tax cut is extended unemployment benefits, although you can certainly make the argument that the EITC is more like a welfare program than a tax cut (and I’m certainly a fan of the EITC).

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[KoKo]

1. James Kwak is a very GOOD GUY...on OUR SIDE..and a great Financial Reporter/Writer!

Whatever he says is a good read if one is a "thinking person" who wants or has time to "dig behind the weeds."

K&R

[valerief]

2. Of course, in a few years when I retire, I'll lose my social security, because

the safe has been cracked.