Earlier today, I came across this interesting article on KansasCity.com, while I was reading the latest news about the presidential campaigns. The author correctly argues one main point - that no matter who becomes our next President there will need to be changes to our current tax system.
“The fact that President Bush and Congress enacted temporary tax cuts in 2001 and 2003 that expire at the end of 2010 means it's inevitable that taxes will change, perhaps dramatically.
The next president and Congress will agree to extend some or all of those tax cuts while also cutting or raising other taxes - or else political gridlock will stymie agreement, the tax cuts will expire, and tax bills will go up for almost everyone.
‘It is a unique moment,’ said Robert Reischauer, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office. ‘Something has to happen.’
But what? Who will pay less and who will pay more? Which plan will get through a Congress all but certain to remain in Democratic control? The likeliest ideas to make it through are those few changes that Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain both want.
They both want to extend the Bush tax cuts for those making less than $250,000 - mainly the $1,000 per child tax credit, lower income tax rates and elimination of the marriage penalty.
‘There's a good chance that whoever the next president is, the Congress will agree to extend the middle-class tax cuts,’ said Leonard Burman, director of the Tax Policy Center, a joint operation of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution that analyzes taxes. Both are center-left think tanks.