Passing Middle Class Tax Cut Bill Would Resolve Half of Fiscal Cliff

Dec 5, 2012
Passing Middle Class Tax Cut Bill Would Resolve Half of Fiscal Cliff

WASHINGTON -- Not only would passing the Senate-passed Middle Class Tax Cut bill provide certainty that 98 percent of Americans and 97 percent of small businesses will not see their taxes go up next year, it would immediately resolve nearly HALF of the adverse economic effects of the fiscal cliff. No wonder pressure – even from within conservative circles – is increasing on Republicans to join with Democrats to pass H.R. 15, the House equivalent of the Senate-passed bill. A discharge petition on H.R. 15 was introduced yesterday and already has 177 signatures.

“Every day that Republicans block a vote on extending the middle class tax cuts adds uncertainty for 98 percent of Americans facing a tax increase in January,” said Ways and Means Ranking Member Sander Levin. “Republicans should join with Democrats to pass the middle class tax cuts immediately and resolve half of the fiscal cliff in the process.”

The CBO estimates that allowing all of the fiscal tightening that is scheduled to occur in 2013 and 2014 will reduce GDP by 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013. Nearly half – 45 percent – of that reduction would occur as a result of failing to extend the middle class tax cuts and patch the AMT. Here’s what comprises the 2.9 percent reduction in GDP:

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