President Obama and top Republican Congressional leaders met yesterday at the White House. Although there were a number of issues discussed, most time was apparently spent on what to do about the Bush tax cuts set to expire at the end of the month – December 31st.
This is an issue which common sense says should have not only been discussed, but dealt with long ago. No one in America knows what their federal tax rates will be a month from now. How in the world are businesses supposed to decide how many people they can afford to hire if they don’t know what it’s going to cost them? No wonder unemployment rates in this nation have remained high, despite billions of stimulus dollars being spent. And no wonder individuals are wary when shopping, when they have no idea how big a chunk of their income will be eaten up in federal taxes.
But Washington politics have stood in the way of resolving this problem for months. Republicans have stuck to their position – that no income taxes should be raised on anyone, especially during a recession; and Democrats have said the “rich” should be soaked even more than they already are. My position, for the record, is that we clearly should not raise taxes on the middle class, nor should we raise them on higher-earners, because to do so would suppress job creation.
So what did our fearless leaders in Washington do? Well, they decided to meet some more, and keep talking. Specifically, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Obama Budget Director Jacob Lew will meet with two Congressional Republicans and two Congressional Democrats to “seek common ground.”
Let me save them a lot of time. DON’T RAISE TAXES – ON ANYONE! And let’s go even further – let’s agree to simplify the tax code so it isn’t so darn complicated. One shouldn’t have to hire an expensive accountant or tax-preparer or attorney, just to figure out what they owe and stay out of trouble.
Maybe I’m asking too much, but I’m an optimist by nature, usually. Maybe Democrats and Republicans in Washington will actually work together for a change. (And maybe we’ll finally have world peace and cure cancer.)