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- Mar 21, 2005
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The Associated Press: Hoyer: Permanent middle class tax cuts too costly
This is going to be a tough issue for both parties. The tax cuts should be made permanent or ignored altogether - this "temporary cut/fix" shenanigans is little more than a budgetary tool used to hide the true costs of programs and push off hard decisions to the next group of leaders.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said Tuesday that tax increases will eventually be necessary to address the nation's mounting debt, raising a difficult election-year issue as Democrats fight to retain control of Congress.
In the shorter term, Hoyer raised the possibility that Congress will only temporarily extend middle-class tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year. He pointedly suggested that making them permanent would be too costly.
Tax cuts enacted under former President George W. Bush are scheduled to expire at the end of the year, affecting taxpayers at every income level. President Barack Obama proposes to permanently extend them for individuals making less than $200,000 a year and families making less than $250,000 — at a cost of about $2.5 trillion over the next decade.
This is going to be a tough issue for both parties. The tax cuts should be made permanent or ignored altogether - this "temporary cut/fix" shenanigans is little more than a budgetary tool used to hide the true costs of programs and push off hard decisions to the next group of leaders.