100th Blog Post: It really is stimulus, stupid.

What am I missing about this tax cut ‘compromise’? 

Firstly, you cannot call it a compromise.  Merriam –Webster defines compromise as “settlement of differences by arbitration or by consent reached by mutual concessions”.  What exactly did each side concede?  They both got what they wanted.

-         Left:  tax cut extension for middle class, payroll tax cut, extension of earned income tax credit, child tax credit, college tax credit, extension of relief of the Alternative Minimum Tax, and 1 year extension on unemployment benefits.

-        Right: tax cut extension for all earners, no change in capital gains tax, a new 35% (could have been 55%) estate tax on estates over $5 million ($10 million for couples), and the payroll tax credit which offers more savings the more you earn.

The only ones who didn’t get anything were the deficit hawks.  Perhaps deficit hawks are unicorns, snipe, and mermaids.  THEY DON’T FREAKING EXIST.  Where’s the outrage?  Did the Tea Party close up shop?

Secondly, but what really pisses me off is the reaction on the political and pundit left.  Yeah that means you Pelosi, Olbermann, MoveOn.org, et al.  Why do you think this is a sell out; because the rich and supper rich didn’t get screwed?  Getting what you want isn’t the same as denying the other guy.  You self righteous douche bags.  If you don’t like what the President did, don’t vote for it, but what from what I can gather the American Public was quite clear when they said jobs were more important than the deficit. 

For the record, I was opposed to the tax cuts for those making over $1Million because, even though the savings was relatively small, it was a start in curbing the deficit without any downfall in economic growth.  I stand by the assertion that we need to get the economic flywheel turning so we can pull back on the external fiscal and monetary policy stimuli.  Until that happens we cannot cut away and tax away ourselves to debt reduction.

Finally, this is not endorsement of Republican philosophy and policies, but an endorsement of short term action (it is actually stimulus without calling it stimulus) to fulfill long term goals.  It is a slam against the liberals who are acting like a spoiled kid on Christmas or Hanukkah because his brother also got an iPad.