Extending Bush Tax Cuts?

A resounding no from the White House has ended speculation whether the administration would extend the Bush tax breaks for the wealthy beyond the 2010 deadline, reports The New York Times. So what can we expect? Continued tax cuts for the middle class--that 98 percent of folks who are making below $250,000 as a couple and below $200,000 as an individual--and another $180 billion of business tax credits and for improving the nation's infrastructure. Large multinational corporations, oil and gas companies and other industry giants, on the other hand, like the nation's wealthiest, will lose their tax breaks.

This is about long-term economic growth,” Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said on Tuesday. “This isn’t about the next 60 days or the next 90 days. This is about how do we get our economy fully back on track, how do we get the millions that want to work back to work, and how do we repair the economic damage that’s been going on not just over the past two years but over the past 10 years.”

But Republicans are not enthusiastic. Ending corporate tax breaks aside, one former economic adviser to President Ronald Reagan told the Times that ending any of the Bush tax cuts will only further hurt our floundering economy, regardless of income. "To the chagrin of the White House, Mr. Obama’s recently departed budget director, Peter R. Orszag, took the same stance on Tuesday in a column in The New York Times," reports the Times. 

Political analysts are predicting that the package won't pass before the election. But the battle over its details could be a boon or a bust for either party, with Obama positioning himself as a champion of the little guy and framing the Republicans as the party for the rich. 

(Photo credit: Alessandro Pautasso; C.C. 2.0)