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Don't Tax Me Bro'

House and Senate at odds over extending Bush era tax cuts.

To put it simply, the rich don't want their way of life compromised - ever.  And they definitely don't want an increase in taxes. What American does?

"The United States Senate voted to give one hundred percent of Americans, everyone in this country, a tax cut', said minority speaker Nancy Pelosi during her remarks to the media this week."  She called the day, "a great day".

That day is about to be clouded by Republicans who don't share that sentiment. Republicans want to continue enjoying tax cuts for themselves and the rich, many of whom live in wealthy neighborhoods like Great Falls, Virginia where the average home is valued at more than $1M.

One of scores of mansion-like homes in Great Falls, VA.  Photo/CD Brown.
Republicans plan to obstruct any legislation that would allow tax breaks for the average American until tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans are extended.

Signs in support of presidential candidate Mitt Romney adorn road sides in Great Falls indicating that the wealthy in that area are in support of such tax cuts. 

One of several Mitt Romney signs planted along the roadside in Great Falls, VA.  Photo/CD Brown.
What It's All About.
While the president wasn't in Great Falls, VA, he was in nearby McLean,VA,  a neighborhood which also boasts homes just as costly as homes in neighboring Great Falls.
Speaking at a fund raiser Friday evening at the home of businessan and philanthropist Earl Stafford, President Obama said of Republicans, "So, they don't want to just continue the Bush tax cuts; they want to add another $5 trillion of tax cuts on top of that, mostly going to folks who don't need tax cuts and weren’t even asking for tax cuts." 
The administration maintains that Republicans want to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to give an extra tax cut to people making over $250,000 a year.
President Obama, in his weekly address, said, "Republicans in Congress, and their nominee for president, believe that the best way to create prosperity in America is to let it trickle down from the top. They believe that if our country spends trillions more on tax cuts for the wealthy, we’ll somehow create jobs – even if we have to pay for it by gutting things like education and training and by raising middle-class taxes." 



"They’re wrong", he continued. "And I know they’re wrong because we already tried it that way for most of the last decade. It didn’t work. We’re still paying for trillions of dollars in tax cuts that benefitted the wealthiest Americans more than anyone else; tax cuts that didn’t lead to the middle class jobs or higher wages we were promised and that helped take us from record surpluses to record deficits."

The Senate needs 218 votes from the House to keep taxes for the middle class from increasing roughly $2,200 at the beginning of 2013.

Said the president, "So what I’ve said is let’s say that everybody who makes $250,000 a year or less, that their incomes taxes will not go up a dime; that includes 97 percent of small businesses."
The president, hoping for bipartisanship in the matter is projecting that, "When Democrats and Republicans agree on something, it should be pretty easy to get it done".

Perhaps not, as this appears to be one of those times when the two parties are, yet again, in disagreement.  The House has already threatened to block the president.

“Next week, the House will vote to stop President Obama’s small business tax hike while laying the groundwork for pro-growth tax reform that will help employers keep jobs in America, and bring some jobs back to America that have gone overseas", said Republican speaker of the House, John Boehner. "If the president is serious about helping rebuild this economy, he will work with Republicans to stop these tax hikes and reform the tax code to create a better environment for private-sector job creation.”
The rich don't want to be taxed, nor do the poor or middle class. 

It is in that vain that the general consensus of Americans is, "Don't tax me, bro." 

Just read their lips.

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