Monday, April 18, 2011

Greenspan Calls for Ending Bush Tax Cuts

Wow, didn't think that I'd find myself agreeing with Greenspan:
 Former US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan on Sunday stepped up his call for Congress to let the Bush-era tax cuts lapse. In an appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," Greenspan used his strongest words yet to urge lawmakers to let the tax cuts expire. The risk of a US debt crisis, he said, is just too big.
Greenspan, who retired from the Federal Reserve in 2006, had endorsed the cuts back in 2001 championed by then-President George W. Bush.
"This crisis is so imminent and so difficult that I think we have to allow the so-called Bush tax cuts all to expire. That is a very big number," he said, referring to how much the US government could save from letting income taxes go back up to levels last seen under former President Bill Clinton.
Greenspan was talking about re-imposing the taxes for all Americans. The Treasury has estimated that a permanent extension of all the Bush tax cuts would cost $3.6 trillion over the next decade. Allowing taxes to increase on those in the top income brackets would take the cost to the government down to $2.9 trillion, according to White House estimates.
Well, there's a first time for everything.

No comments:

Post a Comment