"Should Democrats get their way, every income tax bracket will
increase on Jan. 1, 2011. Every single one."

Mike Pence on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 in a press conference
Mike Pence says Democrats want all of Bush tax cuts to expire

Says PolitiFact: False

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me...sh-tax-cuts-e/


In a July 20, 2010, press conference, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., the
third-ranking House Republican, attacked the Democratic majority over
tax policy.

He said, "The American people deserve to know that, should Democrats get
their way, every income tax bracket will increase on January 1, 2011.
Every single one. You know, you don’t raise taxes on every American
taxpayer during the worst recession in 25 years. As we’ve done on their
failed stimulus policy, as we did on their national energy tax, as we
did on their government takeover of health care, House Republicans will
stand in the gap to protect taxpayers from the largest tax increase in
American history."

We thought it would be worth checking two aspects of Pence's statement.
One is whether all tax brackets are indeed poised to rise when tax cuts
passed under President George W. Bush expire at the end of this year.
The other is whether the Democrats actually want that to happen. We'll
take these in order.

• Will every tax bracket increase? The answer is yes, unless Congress
takes action.

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, which is
set to expire on Dec. 31, 2010, lowered income tax rates across the
board, though studies have shown that the benefits of this law, when
combined with other Bush-era tax cuts, tilted toward wealthier Americans.

The law created a new, 10 percent tax rate for the lowest-income
taxpayers (many of whom actually qualify for tax rebates under the
Earned Income Tax Credit). It also chopped a few percentage points off
most existing tax brackets, with the top rate for married households
falling from 39.6 percent to 35 percent.

If the tax cuts were to expire with no Congressional intervention, the
pre-2001 tax brackets would spring back to life. Here's how the tax
brackets would look on a before-and-after basis for married couples
filing jointly based on their incomes. For simplicity, we're ignoring
modest adjustments for inflation. Tax brackets for other categories such
as individual filers broadly follow the same pattern.

• Up to $16,750: Rises from 10 percent to 15 percent
• From $16,751 to $58,200: Stays same at 15 percent, but entire
bracket pays 5 percent additional on the first $16,750
• From $58,201 to $68,000: Rises from 15 percent to 28 percent
• From $68,001 to $137,300: Rises from 25 percent to 28 percent
• From $137,301 to $209,250: Rises from 28 percent to 31 percent
• From $209,251 to $373,650: Rises from 33 percent to 36 percent
• $373,651 and up: Rises from 35 percent to 39.6 percent

So on this point, Pence is correct, assuming Congress does nothing.

• Do Democrats want every tax bracket to rise, as Pence suggests? In a
word, no.

**** For many months, Democratic officials have consistently said that
they intend to let only the tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals
lapse. The cutoff they usually suggest is $200,000 for individuals and
$250,000 for married couples filing jointly. President Obama campaigned
on just such a plan, and we've logged those promises into our Obameter
campaign promises database.****

Take this Reuters article published July 13, 2010, just days before
Pence made his comments.

"The U.S. Congress will likely act to extend tax cuts for the middle
class to avoid choking off the fragile economic recovery, key
congressional Democrats said on Tuesday. House Democratic Leader Steny
Hoyer said he expected the House to push to extend middle-class tax cuts
before they expire at year end but suggested cutting taxes for the
wealthy is less urgent. 'What you want to do is stimulate at this point
in time, so you certainly do not want to increase taxes on the middle
class, middle-income working Americans,' Hoyer told reporters. President
Barack Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress have vowed not to
raise taxes on individuals earning less than $200,000 or couples making
less than $250,000."

A bill to do this is not yet finished, but spokesmen for both Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the House Ways and Means Committee confirmed
to PolitiFact that the legislative proposal they're working on would
extend the tax cuts for all taxpayers below an income threshold.

A Pence spokesman countered with another Hoyer remark, made June 22,
2010, during a forum on deficit reduction.

Hoyer told the audience that "as the House and Senate debate what to do
with the expiring Bush tax cuts in the coming weeks, we need to have a
serious discussion about their implications for our fiscal outlook,
including whether we can afford to permanently extend them before we
have a real plan for long-term deficit reduction," according to an
Associated Press report.

This suggests that at least one leading Democrat is undecided about how
to proceed with the Bush tax cuts in the long term. However, we don’t
see this as strong evidence for Pence’s claim.

First, Hoyer, in comments to reporters after the June 22 event, said, "I
don't think this is the time to increase taxes." He said that any tax
increases, if they happen at all, would need to take place after the
economy recovers. He didn't express any opposition to temporary
extensions of the tax cuts (at least for middle- and lower-income
Americans) -- and that’s the only factor that’s relevant in judging
Pence’s quote.

While Pence would be on safe ground questioning Hoyer’s commitment to a
permanent extension, he’s wrong to say that Hoyer would somehow "get
(his) way" by seeing all tax brackets increase on Jan. 1, 2011.

Just to be safe, we checked with Hoyer’s office to nail down his stance
on a temporary extension. Communications director Katie Grant confirmed
that Hoyer favors at least a temporary extension to prevent a tax
increase on Jan. 1, 2011.

If anything, the momentum within the Democratic Party may be in the
direction of keeping the Bush tax cuts for everyone, even for the
wealthy. On July 22, 2010, news reports indicated that Democratic Sens.
Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Kent Conrad of North Dakota had joined a
growing chorus of Democrats who think it might be a good idea to extend
the Bush tax cuts for everyone, at least until the economy has recovered.

Pence is right that every tax bracket will go up if the law is not
extended. Still, we think the claim that Democrats don't want to extend
the law is inaccurate. While the legislative drafting is still in
process, the Democratic majority in Congress has made clear that it
plans to extend tax cuts for all but the top couple percentage points of
the income distribution. So it's highly misleading for him to say that
Democrats actually want to see all the bill's cuts expire. Indeed,
Pence's comment verges on a scare tactic. While Pence would have been
entirely accurate to say, "If the Democrats fail to extend the expiring
tax cuts, all tax brackets will increase," he didn't. What he did say
merits a ruling of False.

- - -


And now, back to the usual Republican Conservative Nonsense.

On Jul 23, 1:21Â*pm, Harry  wrote:
Â* "Should Democrats get their way, every income tax bracket will
increase on Jan. 1, 2011. Every single one."

Mike Pence on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 in a press conference
Mike Pence says Democrats want all of Bush tax cuts to expire

Says PolitiFact: False

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-me.../jul/22/mike-p...

In a July 20, 2010, press conference, Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., the
third-ranking House Republican, attacked the Democratic majority over
tax policy.

He said, "The American people deserve to know that, should Democrats get
their way, every income tax bracket will increase on January 1, 2011.
Every single one. You know, you don’t raise taxes on every American
taxpayer during the worst recession in 25 years. As we’ve done on their
failed stimulus policy, as we did on their national energy tax, as we
did on their government takeover of health care, House Republicans will
stand in the gap to protect taxpayers from the largest tax increase in
American history."

We thought it would be worth checking two aspects of Pence's statement.
One is whether all tax brackets are indeed poised to rise when tax cuts
passed under President George W. Bush expire at the end of this year.
The other is whether the Democrats actually want that to happen. We'll
take these in order.

• Will every tax bracket increase? The answer is yes, unless Congress
takes action.

The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001, which is
set to expire on Dec. 31, 2010, lowered income tax rates across the
board, though studies have shown that the benefits of this law, when
combined with other Bush-era tax cuts, tilted toward wealthier Americans.

The law created a new, 10 percent tax rate for the lowest-income
taxpayers (many of whom actually qualify for tax rebates under the
Earned Income Tax Credit). It also chopped a few percentage points off
most existing tax brackets, with the top rate for married households
falling from 39.6 percent to 35 percent.

If the tax cuts were to expire with no Congressional intervention, the
pre-2001 tax brackets would spring back to life. Here's how the tax
brackets would look on a before-and-after basis for married couples
filing jointly based on their incomes. For simplicity, we're ignoring
modest adjustments for inflation. Tax brackets for other categories such
as individual filers broadly follow the same pattern.

Â* Â*• Up to $16,750: Rises from 10 percent to 15 percent
Â* Â*• From $16,751 to $58,200: Stays same at 15 percent, but entire
bracket pays 5 percent additional on the first $16,750
Â* Â*• From $58,201 to $68,000: Rises from 15 percent to 28 percent
Â* Â*• From $68,001 to $137,300: Rises from 25 percent to 28 percent
Â* Â*• From $137,301 to $209,250: Rises from 28 percent to 31 percent
Â* Â*• From $209,251 to $373,650: Rises from 33 percent to 36 percent
Â* Â*• $373,651 and up: Rises from 35 percent to 39.6 percent

Â* Â* So on this point, Pence is correct, assuming Congress does nothing.

• Do Democrats want every tax bracket to rise, as Pence suggests? In a
word, no.

**** For many months, Democratic officials have consistently said that
they intend to let only the tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals
lapse. The cutoff they usually suggest is $200,000 for individuals and
$250,000 for married couples filing jointly. President Obama campaigned
on just such a plan, and we've logged those promises into our Obameter
campaign promises database.****

Take this Reuters article published July 13, 2010, just days before
Pence made his comments.

"The U.S. Congress will likely act to extend tax cuts for the middle
class to avoid choking off the fragile economic recovery, key
congressional Democrats said on Tuesday. House Democratic Leader Steny
Hoyer said he expected the House to push to extend middle-class tax cuts
before they expire at year end but suggested cutting taxes for the
wealthy is less urgent. 'What you want to do is stimulate at this point
in time, so you certainly do not want to increase taxes on the middle
class, middle-income working Americans,' Hoyer told reporters. President
Barack Obama and his Democratic allies in Congress have vowed not to
raise taxes on individuals earning less than $200,000 or couples making
less than $250,000."

A bill to do this is not yet finished, but spokesmen for both Speaker
Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and the House Ways and Means Committee confirmed
to PolitiFact that the legislative proposal they're working on would
extend the tax cuts for all taxpayers below an income threshold.

A Pence spokesman countered with another Hoyer remark, made June 22,
2010, during a forum on deficit reduction.

Hoyer told the audience that "as the House and Senate debate what to do
with the expiring Bush tax cuts in the coming weeks, we need to have a
serious discussion about their implications for our fiscal outlook,
including whether we can afford to permanently extend them before we
have a real plan for long-term deficit reduction," according to an
Associated Press report.

This suggests that at least one leading Democrat is undecided about how
to proceed with the Bush tax cuts in the long term. However, we don’t
see this as strong evidence for Pence’s claim.

First, Hoyer, in comments to reporters after the June 22 event, said, "I
don't think this is the time to increase taxes." He said that any tax
increases, if they happen at all, would need to take place after the
economy recovers. He didn't express any opposition to temporary
extensions of the tax cuts (at least for middle- and lower-income
Americans) -- and that’s the only factor that’s relevant in judging
Pence’s quote.

While Pence would be on safe ground questioning Hoyer’s commitment to a
permanent extension, he’s wrong to say that Hoyer would somehow "get
(his) way" by seeing all tax brackets increase on Jan. 1, 2011.

Just to be safe, we checked with Hoyer’s office to nail down his stance
on a temporary extension. Communications director Katie Grant confirmed
that Hoyer favors at least a temporary extension to prevent a tax
increase on Jan. 1, 2011.

If anything, the momentum within the Democratic Party may be in the
direction of keeping the Bush tax cuts for everyone, even for the
wealthy. On July 22, 2010, news reports indicated that Democratic Sens.
Ben Nelson of Nebraska and Kent Conrad of North Dakota had joined a
growing chorus of Democrats who think it might be a good idea to extend
the Bush tax cuts for everyone, at least until the economy has recovered.

Pence is right that every tax bracket will go up if the law is not
extended. Still, we think the claim that Democrats don't want to extend
the law is inaccurate. While the legislative drafting is still in
process, the Democratic majority in Congress has made clear that it
plans to extend tax cuts for all but the top couple percentage points of
the income distribution. So it's highly misleading for him to say that
Democrats actually want to see all the bill's cuts expire. Indeed,
Pence's comment verges on a scare tactic. While Pence would have been
entirely accurate to say, "If the Democrats fail to extend the expiring
tax cuts, all tax brackets will increase," he didn't. What he did say
merits a ruling of False.

- - -

And now, back to the usual Republican Conservative Nonsense.

Hey Krausie, been back to Yale lately?