the bush tax cuts

The next two months will be filled with nasty politics before the mid-term election in November.

And one of the issues that will be twisted into perversion rather than contemplated in rational discussion will be the expiration of the "bush tax cuts" at the end of 2010. Unless a new tax law is enacted before the end of the year, the tax rates will go back up to what they were in 2000. President Obama has suggested, Hey let's keep the tax rates as they are except for the wealthiest taxpayers. After all, we have huge budget deficits to get under control and continuing economic problems, and the wealthy have had good rates for ten years.

But the Republicans, the Party of No, says there will be no compromise. They have wealthy friends to protect, and they want all the bush cuts to stay in effect. They apparently would rather have everybody's taxes go up in 2011 and then blame that on the Democrats.

Money is very much involved, so this will be the dirtiest politics we've seen in a while. I sometimes am amazed at people who say they are Republicans because they are "fiscally conservative", when it's obvious that they are more and more fiscally irresponsible and destructive, with the focus only on power and the next election and the short-term. Pity the generation that is just now coming of age. They will inherit a disaster.