Brookfield7: Tell Republicans to stand firm: No New Taxes

They call it the Fiscal Cliff. Falling off it is seen as disastrous to the U.S. economy and will cause us to fall back into recession. (Did we ever leave it?) If we do nothing to avert the cliff, we fall off on New Year's Eve.

But what is the Fiscal Cliff? Primarily, it is the end to the Bush Tax Cuts they band-aided back into law in December of 2010. It also includes expiration of the Payroll Tax Cut, which has little support from either side of the aisle. If you remember, it reduced the Social Security payroll deduction from 6.2% to 4.2% so workers would have a bit more take home pay. (Did you even notice?) However, it also reduced the amount of money flowing into the Social Security coffers--a bad idea for an entitlement already facing solvency issues. The $700 billion or so Doc Fix, military reductions, and some token spending cuts also part of the mix.

Our Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner wrote, Don't trade a cliff for an iceberg. In it he points out,

Currently, the US debt is on track to reach 187 percent of GDP by 2035. But unlike Greece, there is no "Germany" to bail us out. If our debt reaches this level, an international economic crisis would ensue.

The President and Congressional Democrats have called for a “balanced” approach to reducing the deficit.

But their approach has been anything but balanced. The President’s “offer” included $1.6 trillion dollars in taxes and $400 billion in spending cuts. That’s neither balanced nor helpful for our economy. When spending on entitlements is 62 percent of our budget, the President’s focus on tax increases is not going to cut it.

We can’t solve our debt problem without economic growth, and tax hikes could cost 710,000 jobs according to an independent Ernst &Young study.

Simply put, the President wants no cuts in spending, in fact wants even more increases including another Stimulus! Obama wants to increase taxes on the "rich" that will raise only around $85 billion, enough to run our country for 8 and a half days. So losing over 700,000 jobs in exchange for running the government for 8.5 days is a good deal?

House Speaker John Boehner has been offering up plans, even more generous than last time, to President Obama. They include increases in tax revenue by closing loopholes. But on whose authority? Boehner certainly doesn't have the backing of his party. By the way, Obama rejected his offers.

So at this point, if you don't want America to increase tax rates, spending, and debt, I think your representatives need to hear from you. I would like to see the House pass an extension of the Bush Tax Cuts for all income levels, then see what the President offers. Don't forget we have a debt ceiling deadline coming and Obama will need Republican votes then.

Contact your Representatives and Senators
Find your U.S. Senators by last name
Wisconsin's U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (202) 224-5323
Wisconsin's U.S. Senator Herb Kohl (202) 224-5653

Find your U.S. House of Representatives member by state
House Representative James Sensenbrenner Washington D.C. (202) 225-5101, Brookfield (262) 784-1111

House Speaker Boehner phone line (513) 779-5400

More Reading:
The Social Security payroll tax cut: Let it die
Don't trade a cliff for an iceberg

Boehner tax increase sparks conservative backlash