Posted by JM Ashby
Yes, you read that right.
The deficit commission is now recommending that the wealthy receive an even greater tax cut than they already have by nearly 10%. They also recommend cutting taxes for corporations. Wait, is this a commission for how to balloon the deficit or reduce it? I am confused now.
The top tax rate is currently 35 percent and is scheduled to rise to 39.6 percent in 2011. The commission would cut that rate to between 23 and 28 percent, while shaving between seven and nine points off the corporate rate.
The commission does propose taxing capital gains and dividends as ordinary income, a move that would result in a higher liability for the wealthy. It also eliminates some corporate tax breaks. But those losses for top earners would be more than offset by their tax cuts.
So can this commission be entirely discounted once and for all? This commission is very close to self-parody territory and something you would expect to see on an episode of SNL rather than making serious policy suggestions.