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Subscribe to RSSThe Republican co-chairman of the supercommittee, Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling, pressed committee Democrats this morning to respond to what he said were "considerable concessions" from Republicans this week on taxes.
Hensarling said that Democrats' insistence on $1 trillion in new revenue wasn't acceptable to Republicans. The GOP, said Hensarling, wants to see more reforms to health care spending.
"What we still haven't seen from the Democrats is a plan that deals with our structural debt crisis that actually solves the problem," he said. "And unfortunately we've never seen any reforms that would save and secure our health care programs that weren't attached to a trillion dollars worth of tax increase which we believe is ultimately going to harm job growth."
He said committee members are still talking.
Hensarling's comments followed the release on Wednesday night of a new deficit reduction plan on Wednesday evening that would reduce the deficit by $2.3 trillion by combining $1 trillion in new revenue with another$1 trillion in cuts and an additional $300 billion in lower interest costs.
According to Democratic aides, the plan was quickly rejected by the GOP committee members.
The $1 trillion in tax revenues in the Dems newest plan would be mostly achieved through a mandate that tax reform be completed by January 1st, 2013, according to aides. If tax reform wasn't achieved by that date, a "trigger" would automatically kick in with $650 billion dollars in tax increases that would be set in advance by the supercommittee.
The last 24 hours underscore just how much gamesmanship has become a part of the supercommittee deliberations as the 12-member panel approaches its Nov. 23 deadline. The Democrats on the committee earlier this week, for instance, rebuffed a Republican offer of $300 billion in new revenue as "insane."
But GOP members of the supercommitte have cast that offer as a significant concession. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), a member of the supercommittee, detailed the GOP offer during an appearance Thursday morning on Morning Joe.
Toomey confirmed Republicans want to make the Bush tax cuts permanent and lower the top individual tax rate to 28 percent. They would offset that lost revenue with an overhaul of the tax code that would place limits on itemized deductions, tax write-offs and close loopholes. Some of the money captured from the tax overhaul could go to deficit reduction, he said.
Toomey told the Morning Joe panel, "We've recommended the top rate come down to 28 and other rates come down commensurately. That's the ballpark of where the bipartisan commissions have come out on this. And then lets offset that lost revenue by reducing the size of the value of the deductions that people could take and for the very upper income brackets we could reduce that by a little bit more than what it would take to get to revenue neutral and in the process generate some revenue for deficit reduction"
Toomey argued that the Republican change on taxes should be a sign to Democrats that Republicans are ready to cut a deal. "It's an indication of how much we want to find an agreement here," he said.
When asked if he thinks the committee will reach a deal, he said "its not too late - but the clock, its getting late."
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The truly beutiful thing about this womans speeches is......
she will never have the chance to sit in the Whitehouse and spew that crap.
As for cut backs....how much is this waste of time costing?
Same old GOP game increase taxes on the middle class, and give the 1% another tax break.
maybe it will pass?
I have the urge to call you a Ape, but I don't want to give apes a bad name!
How about REAL spending cuts and REAL revenue increases. I hate to agree with Rick Perry but do we really need the Department of Education? Let states deal with it. On the revenue side, cut corporate taxes and increase the taxes on dividend income. For all taxes, eliminate the deduction and that simplifies everything. It isn't that taxes are complicated, it is the Byzantine matrix of deductions that keeps the lawyers and accountants employed.
Bush tax cuts should expire. end of discussion!
Here is a little known fact ,found it just today , Starting in 2012 those making 80,000 a year plus will see a %5 increase in their taxes , yup it seems our lam duck congress and senate did one under the table then pushed it under the rug after Obama signed it , OH the lam duck congress was controlled by Democrats ,
LET US LOOK AT THE NUMBERS 80,000 A YEAR IS PAYING ABOUT %25 ADD %5 MORE THAT'S NOW UP TO %30 STARTING IN 2012
Obama says he never raised any taxes and the Democrats want more
LET US LOOK AT SOME MORE NUMBERS the value of or dollar has been reduced by over %14 since Obama took office , taxes are going up %5 under obama ,maybe more , H our standard of living has decreased by %20 or one fifth since Obama took office
YOU know what is really amazing about this , THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY HAPPY ABOUT THIS ,JUST TICKLED PINK
Do you have anything to back up those claims?
So it seems the only thing "super" about the super-committee is their capacity for demagoguery. We tried a more open debate at the time of the debt ceiling debacle, the Clown Car Congress whimpered it was all too public and said "let us deliberate in private, we'll work something out". So now they have their private talks and all we see is external posturing to the press, perhaps hoping the pressure each other, perhaps just paving the way for the announcement of failure. These folks should lose 2% of total compensation for every 1% of budget imbalance and every 1% of unemployment above say 3%, and every 1% of inflation!
I would select an equal part of revenue increase (on the top 5% fat cats with some $2.93T of available AGI every year) and global spending reduction to get the needed deficit closure. If the revenue side of this looks too weak after we try it for a while, then the proportion of spending cuts could rise. For me, the idea of risking further job losses by doing nothing further, and then throwing the victims of our Bush/Wall Street mini-depression under the bus is simply barbaric short-sighted and un-American.
Do you think old Boner (ftmc) can imagine enough flexibility to seriously discuss that? Probably not, he'll just spout some lame ass trickle down talking points, like the rest of the Teabagger air-heads. When Daddy Bush called out Reagan on the trickle down theory years ago (~1980), he called it "voodoo economics".
Well it was voodoo economics then, and, after decades of ass kissing the rich, it's voodoo economics now! The result is a wealth distribution in this country that resembles a 3rd world dictatorship. The rich have simply never had it so good, and they can afford to pay a bit more, and they can pay first, before we start starving people.
Now as to taxing the lower income levels who already kick in payroll taxes, or jamming in a new VAT or sales tax on top of a weak consumer demand, that's just vapor ware because these options don't address enough revenue and would just kill the economy further.
The daily drone of Reich wing voodoo, to cut all entitlements and slash all spending, is just the brainless drivel of a population of bumper sticker thinkers who are clearly structurally incapable of even a modicum of intellectual honesty or humanity.
Did you like the Great Depression? Well if we follow GOP thinking BOHICA!
How about if we just select one person from the voting registrations in each state to form a committee and get the job done? I bet they could do it quicker and better.
So how do ya pick the one person per state that is OK with both major factions? How do you choose to qualify various candidates? Do you want to pay them? If so, on what terms?
No pay, just pick them from the high school graduation and voter files. Sort of like a lottery. They don't even have to go to Washington, just record their vote and let it rip. Couldn't be any worse and might be a whole lot better than what is going on now.
Oh, OK, sorta like monkeys at typewriters working toward Shakespeare.
Saying no for the past three years is not a concession.
I live on less than $30.000 a year. We pay about 6% tax on every dollar we spend. If the USA imposed a Flat Tax of 6% for everyone, we should see our economy start to improve. We just have to get rid of the loopholes protecting the largest earners in our country. If everyone is required to pay their fair share, we could recover ???
http://roughfractals.blogspot.com/2011/10/i-guess-eisenhower-was-socialist.html
During the Eisenhower administration (1953 - 1961), the
tax rate on the richest Americans was 91 percent. With tax rates high, the wealthy built factories and bought new equipment and hired workers. The economy boomed. High tax rates on the wealthy seem to have turned them into better job creators then than the low tax rates we have now.
Slice off about 20% of the above for being from a biased blogger there still remains enough for serious thought.
And all we want is for them to return to paying the tax rate they had during the Clinton administration. The GOP still continue to kowtow to Grover Norquist and to disregard the harm they want to bring to the elderly, the sick and the poor.
We need to cut services for the poor and middle class so that the top tax rate can go down. What is so hard to understand about that? Funny how GOP say this is a good idea. Take away for those that can least afford to give to those that have the most....just crazy!
"They would offset that lost revenue with an overhaul of the tax code that would place limits on itemized deductions, tax write-offs and close loopholes."
Sounds all nice and neat until it comes to light that the "loopholes" and "write-offs" are things like the EIC or college tuition payments. Smells eerily familiar, lower the tax rate at the top and cut the deductions for the middle to offset the lost revenue.
The mainstream media just won't press Boehner or any of the Republicans on why they are blocking every single bill designed to create jobs and stimulate the economy.
It's this blatant conservative bias in the mainstream media that allows Republicans to get away with destroying the economy, then preventing anything that will help rejuvenate the economy.
mainstream media? who are you talking about? psmnbc? cnn? cbs? abc? every channel
is a OBOMBO propaganda bias media outlet! not once have they asked him a hard question!
all the corruption and big union wall street green companies face and furious etc.... but they
do stories on these trampy women making claims against Cain? give me a break pal!
Yep, let's cut the tax for the wealthy down to 28% and then throw the seniors (who have been paying taxes for 40+ years) under the bus. Makes sense to me. After all - hasn't it been stated that people are living too long...er...longer. If you cut health care for the old people struggling to buy meds and pay their bills - well, that will get rid of the problem! They won't have enough money to get hospital care so only the rich old people will survive.... Wow - you just gotta love the GOP. The party of bible thumpers. I bet Jesus Christ is looking down and smiling.......
Jeb Hensarling is a chump. He is a Supply Sider. He is unrealistic. He believes in wealth consolidation. He is undeserving of representing anyone.
The partisan bickering doesn't really accomplish anything. It's the fault of both sides that the economy is the way it is. Both parties spend far to much time protecting their jobs and not actually doing their jobs.
Trickle down simply does not work because the definition of a hoarder is someone who spends their time trying to accumulate more than already have. The wealthy have the money to create jobs right now, but they are not spending it because they want to see demand rise first. However, since so many people can not find decent work right now the consumers are all tightening their belts. I myself fall in to the category of under employed as a I could not find a good full time position and had to settle for 2 part time positions. Neither of which provides me benefits and both pay less than what I was making back when I was laid off in 2009 from my last regular full time position. My income has basically been cut in half, so I sure won't be spending more. I'm barely able to pay my bills these days. Having enough extra cash to go to a movie once in a while is a real treat right now.
mybe they should remove the loop holes starting from the top down BEFORE they drop the tax rate. i bet that would make it happen quicker.
and the gop needs to get off the obama care repeal and make solid committments to reverse the damage they caused when it was first being put together.
thats the deal that has to happen. otherwise i suggest they all sit tight and take the whooping coming to them by lack of action.
time to play hard ball.
Quoted from Sen. Toomey -- "And then lets offset that lost revenue"
I'm glad they're not even pretending anymore that lowering tax rates increases revenue. But why are tax decreases even on the table then? The panel is supposed to be about deficit reduction -- if you're lowering tax rates, then closing loopholes to make it revenue neutral, you've done nothing to reduce the deficit. Stay on task.
The GOP will never allow the billionaires to pay one cent of tax to help worthless poor get medical treatment. The nerve of those bums trying to survive on the fortunes of the wealthy. If they can just kill healthcare, maybe a billionaire will hire one or two to cut his grass so they can get shook down at the hospital if they get hurt.
Republicans on this committee are still insisting they want the Bush tax cuts permanent. Do they not get it that people in this country want the super wealthy to pay more taxes so that our government will have more revenue and not have to make drastic cuts in programs that help the poor or that harm Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The republicans never do anything in good faith and they sure are not when they keep on with keep the tax cuts permanent. Worthless is what they are.
more of the same liberal left wing propaganda!
Vicki I suggest you look at the numbers! Only 22% of the Bush tax cuts (you know, those "tax cuts for the wealthy") went to the top 2% of earners, the group that pays over 50% of individual federal income taxes. So you see, by having the Bush tax cuts extended this will help the nonwealthy more than the wealthy. I know this blows your mind since you think the Republicans have only "the wealthy" in mind! If you allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, you will hear the screams of the "nonwealthy"! Even Obama, when he allowed the tax cuts to be extended, called it the largest tax cut for the middle class in history! Which is it??!!
I say let them all expire. Your concern for the middle class swayed me.
Healthcare has already been made in to law and the Supreme Court will rule on it soon. The Super Committee and Hensarling need to keep their filthy paws off of it.