Greenspan: Bush tax cuts should expire

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Thursday that President George W. Bush's tax cuts should be allowed to expire because of the ballooning budget deficit.

As Fed chairman during Bush's presidency, Greenspan oversaw the nation's monetary policy and endorsed the cuts before they were enacted in the early 2000s.

"I think they should follow the law and let them lapse. … Taxes go up," he told Bloomberg television in an interview to air Friday. "The problem is, unless we start to come to grips with this long-term outlook we're going to have major problems. I think we misunderstand the momentum of this deficit going forward."

Members of Congress are debating whether or not to let the cuts expire, or to extend them before they terminate at the end of the year.

Some Democrats have argued for extending some of the cuts, such as those for households earning less than $250,000 per year. Republicans, for the most part, want the cuts kept in whole.

Other Democrats have said the cuts should be allowed to expire to shore up the Treasury's coffers as a solution to stem the $1 trillion budget deficit.

President Obama has promised not to raise taxes on households earning less than $250,000, placing pressure on Democrats on tax votes.

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/109093-greenspan-says-bush-tax-cuts-should-expire

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Why does this old fool still get a microphone? He's part of the reason why we're in this mess to begin with....

"we fvcked up, so you have to pay more"

How about Congress go without a salary for a few years. How about that? That would save several million dollars right there.

[mendeleev 67]

Of course those tax cuts should expire.

They were an experiment with a predictable outcome. Those who predicted the better part of a decade of sluggish growth, low levels of personal income growth, burgeoning federal government deficits, and roughly flat governmental tax receipts were correct.

As the economy improves, taxes will need to increase in order to address the long-term fiscal outlook of the nation. It will be least contractionary to increase taxes on the rich. So, as long as inflation is in check, taxes on the rich should be increased. Should inflation become a threat the Fed cannot handle, taxes on the middle class should increase, too. But the chances of inflation becoming a threat in the near term are only a little greater than the earth being hit by an asteroid large enough to do significant damage.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

When then tax cuts expire, they will disproportionally affect lower incomes and married couples. For those at the bottom bracket, the tax rate will go from 10% to 15%, and for married couples, the brackets, exemptions, and deductions will be readjusted downward.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]