RNC Women

When the economy slowed down following the dot-com bust, Republicans in Congress worked with the Bush Administration to enact tax cuts to pump money back into the economy and allow taxpayers more freedom to save, invest, or spend their own money.  Those tax relief packages helped spur our economy and generated economic growth.  

Now, much of those tax cuts are scheduled to expire at the end of this year.  According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, letting those tax cuts expire will cost taxpayers $200 billion next year alone, and $3.8 trillion through 2020.  Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat leadership in Congress, staying true to what they’ve done since taking power in 2006, are resisting efforts to renew the tax cuts and look set to let the tax relief expire at midnight on December 31^st.  

The impact this will have on individuals and small businesses will be staggering.  The lowest income tax bracket will move from 10% to 15%.  The marriage penalty will be reinstated.  The capital gains tax will go up by a full third, from 15% to 20%.  The tax on dividends will increase from 15% all the way to 39.6%. 

Not content with these tax increases set to hit this winter, the Democrats piled on even more through the ObamaCare legislation.  As a result of ObamaCare, the dividends and capital gains tax rates will go even higher in 2013, and small businesses and individuals will be faced with a cascade of new taxes and penalties as ObamaCare continues to be implemented. With the economy still struggling to come out of a recession, Democrats have chosen to raise taxes instead of lower them. 

The Democrats’ refusal to continue the Bush-era tax cuts, and their insistence on enacting billions of dollars In new taxes to pay for ObamaCare, will mean continued economic difficulty and stagnant unemployment.  The voters deserve better.