Should the Bush tax cuts be allowed to expire?

I am a huge deficit hawk so I do think that the tax cuts should be allowed to expire. I am not going to go into all the reasons that support my position, from your question you seem like a smart guy and probably know most of them anyway.

I do want to include one link for you though. You seemed to agree with the Bush & Co. line of tax cuts helping the economy through larger receipts. This is just flat wrong, and any economist worth their salt thinks supply-side theory is a joke. But like I said, a link. A great study on the fact that the tax cuts have actually hurt our relative GDP growth compared to where we would have been sans-tax cut.

http://www.cbpp.org/3-8-06tax.htm

Finally, since it just popped into my head, one of the biggest problems with the tax cut & spend pattern of this administration is a lot of that spending is coming in emergency funds for the Iraq/Afgan war that is non-discretionary and thus not included in the headline deficit number at all. Our deficit has increased even more in the last 6 years than we realize.

Please feel free to email me if you want to talk about this more, I am always interested. :)

1. They are not the Bush tax cuts - they are EGTERRA of 2001.

2. If they expire a lot of people will get hammered with estate tax (the estate applicable credit goes back down to $1 million, above that the tax quickly grows to 45%). That sounds like a lot of money, but a 50-yr old mid-level professional making $100k/yr now and who has been maxing out 401k contributions since he/she was 25 will have more than $1 million in their retirement account alone when they turn 65.

3. Moving the LT cap gains rate from 15% back to orginary rates would also penalize people who have been saving outside their IRAs and retirement plans.

The best way to cut the annual budget deficit, imho, is to simplify the income tax structure, no-tax on the first $25k/yr of rach pergson's AGI, then raise the rates slightly. Also increase the fed gasoline tax by 10c/gal each year.

As a tax adviser, i might say confident, the cuts could be allowed to run out. As you so aptly stated, maximum human beings of the tax breaks have been for the wealthy. The cuts did no longer touch maximum human beings of center and espresso earnings taxpayers. It amazes me how human beings "vote" alongside party lines in this subject. And the humorous factor is watching a motor vehicle bypass down the line it is being actually held which incorporate duck tape, with a sticky label on the returned window that pronounces "I voted Republican." You ask your self, WHY? I even have customers which will are available in and tell me how extreme their taxes would be if the fees are replaced, and are completely bowled over when I coach them there is little or "NO" exchange. Their answer is often "yet, the letter I have been given from __________ (commonly the RNC) says it truly is going to develop my taxes via THIS lots". in basic terms endure in techniques that for the duration of politics, you are able to in basic terms have faith 0.5 of what you notice, or maybe much less of what you pay attention.