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Tea Party -
Republican Party friend or foe?
By Dr. Charles & Rebecca Reier
The Tea Party may be serving the Republican Party a poisonous brew by
insisting on “no new taxes”. The Middle Class, now including
millionaires, has seen their assets decline over the last decade, while
the Bush policy of “don’t tax the rich” has billionaires happy. So
happy that many, such as George Soros and Warren Buffet, recognize and
admit the unfairness. They support increased taxes on high income
earners and elimination of tax “loopholes” such as those used by Mitt
Romney to pare his federal taxes to a pitiful 14%.
In lieu of these considerations, why does Boehner insist that they
should not be taxed according to historical standards? The claim that
they are essential to the rehabilitation of the economy is bogus when
the wealthy powers sent the jobs to China and banked their profits in
the Caymans, Bermuda and Switzerland.
Regarding the fiscal cliff - the offer to close tax “loopholes” made by
the Speaker of the House and the Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell
is not an “ante up” but an attempt to get into the game with
counterfeit chips. About tax “loopholes” they offer – where is the
list? Elimination of the tax deduction for mortgages held by the middle
class, many of which are on underwater homes, is not palatable. The
Republican position, like Romney’s plan for balancing the budget, is
opaque without necessary details.
We need Republicans to support the President in increased taxes on very
high incomes. Perhaps the President should raise the bar to $500,000 or
$600,000 per year to allow for expansion by those few small businesses
that are fortunate enough to grow while the remaining majority of
businesses will benefit from the President’s tax cuts already in
existence. Republicans should work over the next year on eliminating
tax “loopholes” and removing graft and fraud in entitlements including
Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security. They could start with the
monster they created – the Medicare Prescription Benefit program that
is nothing but a grab bag for the pharmaceutical industry that has
since increased the price to the government at a compound rate of over
10 percent a year. This is truly a program without limits or brakes and
created by the Republican Party. They should also show
willingness to cut Defense spending in line with the recommendations of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the defense requirements of the 21st
century.
Mr. Boehner and Mr. McConnell, it is time to stop your obfuscation.
Your “do nothing” policy is detrimental to the future of a conservative
but rational Republican Party of the future.
Dr Charles and Rebecca Reier
Greenville Ohio
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