With the frantic election season finally concluded, President Barack Obama and Congress face the pressing issue of what to do with the expiring former President George W. Bush-era tax cuts. The current legislation mandates that starting on Jan. 1, taxes will be renewed to the pre-2001 level. It is certain that legislation will be passed to change this. The only question that remains is this: What will that legislation look like?

The Democrats took a significant loss in the midterm elections, and the legislation Obama ideally wanted to pass is no longer possible. Congressmen have proposed multiple compromises, and the one fact that seems to be inevitable is that the tax cuts will be extended for all Americans for at least a little longer.

In a time when the American economy continues to suffer and nearly 10 percent of the population is unemployed, the nation would not react well to increasing taxes for Americans in any tax bracket. The fact remains, however, that the government needs money to operate and expand social programs. But without any additional money from the richest sector, the government will struggle to legislate, and our national debt will continue to skyrocket.

Instead of continuing stimulus programs that have created over two million construction and infrastructure jobs, the Republicans want to eliminate this spending to allow the Bush-era tax cuts to continue. The Republican philosophy is that this will be a more efficient mode of job creation than stimulus-sponsored jobs.

Obama has offered compromises proposing a continuation of the tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 a year and eliminating tax cuts for families making more than this figure. With Republican control in the House of Representatives and a near balance in the Senate, even this proposal seems hopeless.

In a ’60 Minutes’ interview last week, Obama said, ‘We can think about what the economy needs right now. … And hopefully, we can agree on a set of facts that leads to a compromise. But my No. 1 priority coming into this is making sure that middle class families don’t see their tax rates go up Jan. 1.’

Though Obama has pledged to search for a compromise regarding the tax cuts, Republican Rep. Mike Pence said in a statement, ‘There will be no compromise on repealing Obamacare. There will be no compromise on stopping Democrats from growing government and raising taxes. And if I haven’t been clear enough yet, let me say again: no compromise.’

The juxtaposition of these two statements speaks to the pure opposition Obama faces on a daily basis while trying to legislate in Washington, D.C. If Obama fails to pass legislation and taxes do in fact go up for all Americans, Obama’s approval ratings will undoubtedly plummet. This leaves him with only one option: agree to what the Republicans want.

It is very likely that the Bush-era tax cuts will be extended for all Americans for two more years. Obama wants to make tax cuts for the middle class permanent while allowing the tax cuts on the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans to expire in 2013. It is not ideal, but the uncompromising nature of the Republicans has given Obama and the Democrats no other choice.

America is facing both economic and political turmoil. By extending the Bush-era tax cuts for all Americans, the gap between the rich and poor will continue to grow, and citizens will no longer be able to turn toward the government for help getting jobs. The midterm elections were good indicators that the American populace is unhappy and wants change. Unfortunately this legislation will only ensure that those Americans suffering will continue to suffer.

Benjamin Klein is a junior political science and magazine journalism major. His column appears every Wednesday, and he can be reached at bklein@syr.edu.

 

Published on November 9, 2010 at 12:00 pm