Senator Kirsten Gillibrand was one of 19 US Senators to vote no on the tax compromise signed into law Friday by President Obama. Lawmakers would not lining up to take credit for the law, with Illinois Senator Dick Durbin the ranking legislator to show up for the signing.
Senator Gillibrand is being razzed by the state GOP chair for being too far left, but voters must like it as she had no problem in last month's election.
Senator Chuch Schumer voted for the bill.
One aspect of the legislation is the two percentage point reduction in the FICA tax which funds Social Security. The new rate for employee contributions will be 4.2% instead of 6.2%, which means at the end of 2011 Congress will be facing the prospect of raising taxes on middle class working families. That's the problem with legislation that has sunset provisions just like the so called "Bush tax cuts" which were enacted ten years ago and caused a fuss this year when due to expire.
Anyway, the FICA cut means an extra $20 a week in the pay check for those earning $50,000 a year. I would recommend putting it towards paying for the higher gasoline prices all you "working families" are paying.
Cox: Gillibrand Sided With ‘Radical Left’
8 comments:
Big mistake Social Security Taxes need to be raised.
Gillibrand voted right. This tax cut will explode this deficit and should have been defeated. The pork for NASCAR racetrack owners, Hollywood film producers, and Puerto Rican rum producers was outrageous.
Giving people money is an easy vote for our elected representatives as no one wanted to see taxes rise on the middle class. However, while this economy needed another stimulus, these tax cuts are not the most efficient means of doing this, especially the cuts for the wealthy and the generous estate tax. This tax cut compromise would be easier to accept if there were more certainty that tax and spending reform was in the works to address the growing deficit. President Obama and the Republicans took a risk that the economy will improve and unemployment will decrease to the point where harder choices can be made on the budget. I hope this gamble pays off and compromise becomes a more frequent tool for addressing our country's problems.
Taxing estates at 35% instead of 55% is generous?
Maybe the problem is that not enough lawyers will be able to pocket money by performing estate planing and trust crap?
Messing with the Social Security tax was a BIG mistake.
Obama is a buffoon that is out of touch with the real world. Maybe he needs another vacation with his wife, Moochelle.
Well Gillibrand showed some stuff, She's not "Chuckie Cheese's little girl, good going!
I agree with the comments about Social Security. If Obama attempts to reinstate the taxes as needs to be done, the Republicans will say " there goes Obama raising taxes". This was a plus for the Republicans because they will use it as a way to attack Social Security. Was this a bad deal by Obama, or was he complicit in what is really an attack on Social Security?
Anonymous 2:35: We totally agree on this - it will haunt us this time next year as the GOP peddles it "Tax hike, tax hike."
Actually it's returning $112B to the trust fund for 2011's "tax holiday..." that is if you trust the GOP? Ouch...
putting Social security at risk will cost them all votes in the next election -- a serious tactical error
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