Should Congress Let the Bush Tax Cuts Expire?

There is a growing debate about whether Congress should allow the so-called Bush tax cuts, which were originally enacted in 2001 with a 10 year sunset provision, to expire at the end of 2010 or extend them.

"Though the tax cuts passed by Congress with the encouragement of former President George W. Bush are often described as a boon for the wealthy, the changes passed in 2001 and 2003 lowered taxes for every income bracket.

Democrats have pledged to shield middle-class taxpayers from the Dec. 31 expiration though no action has been taken yet. Democratic leaders reportedly have suggested holding off taking up extending the cuts until after the November election and a report released by President Obama's debt commission."

Alan Greenspan, the alleged "Maestro" whose loose monetary policies while head of the Federal Reserve created one asset bubble after another, weighed in to say that the tax cuts should be allowed to expire in order to fix the deficit. Considering his track record on economic decisions, his "wisdom" can be safely ignored.

There is no question that the tax cuts at all levels should be extended. An extension for all Americans can be defended on at least two grounds.

1. With the country in the midst of economic recession, why would taking more money out of the pockets of Americans (by in effect raising taxes) be helpful to our economy? The federal government is certainly not suffering from a lack of money to spend.

2. The federal government already takes out a healthy-sized piece of the economic pie in the form of taxes. There's no reason this should increase, and any attention now being given to the budget deficit should be directed at creating a fix borne out of spending cuts, not tax hikes.