WE HAVE A TAX DEAL, AND THE RICH WIN (again)

It looks like we have a tentative agreement on the tax bill. There was a lot of horse trading going on. This is what I see ...

If previous CBO projections are correct, extending unemployment benefits for those down on their luck will cost the U.S. taxpayer about $25 billion (give or take a few billion) over the next year.

Extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich, however, will cost the U.S. taxpayer at least $70 billion per year (if not more) over the next two years.

So, in order to get $25 billion into the pockets of millions of unemployed Americans over the next year we have to cough up at least $140 billion to America's richest class over the next two years.

Sounds fair to me.

Sigh ...

- Mark

P.S. To give you an idea how much extending the unfunded Bush tax cuts for the rich will cost think about this. If the tax cuts for the rich end up costing us $83 billion per year - which many think is the real number - we're looking at enough to pay for all veterans’ hospitals, doctors, and the rest of the Veteran’s Affairs health system, plus the United States Coast Guard, plus the Food and Drug Administration, plus the operation and maintenance of every single national park for the entire 10-year period ... with more than $100 billion left over.