page_title: Bush tax cuts
section_title: Extension of Bush tax cuts
hierarchical_section_title: Bush tax cuts / Extension of Bush tax cuts
caption_attribution_description: Of the $9 trillion in deficits projected over the coming decade, nearly $5 trillion comes as a result of failing to pay in the past for just two policies — the Bush tax cuts and the creation of the industry written Rx drug benefit. $3.5 trillion is a result of lost revenues and mandatory aid for Americans as a result of the Bush economic collapse. As a result, 90% of the projected $9 trillion in deficits is due to Bush policies and the Bush economic collapse.
context_page_description: The phrase Bush tax cuts refers to changes to the United States tax code passed originally during the presidency of George W. Bush and extended during the presidency of Barack Obama, through:
  Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001
  Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003
  Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010
  American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012
  While each act has its own legislative history and effect on the tax code, the JGTRRA amplified and accelerated aspects of the EGTRRA. Since 2003, the two acts have often been spoken of together, especially in terms of analyzing their effect on the U.S. economy and population and in discussing their political ramifications. Both laws were passed using controversial Congressional reconciliation procedures.
  The Bush tax cuts had sunset provisions that made them expire at the end of 2010, since otherwise they would fall under the Byrd Rule.
context_section_description: The issue came to a head in late 2010, during a lame-duck session of the 111th Congress.
  The Slurpee Summit was a White House meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Congressional leaders that occurred on November 30, 2010. The name "Slurpee Summit" is a reference to an analogy Obama used while campaigning for the 2010 midterm elections. It was the first such meeting in the wake of the November midterm election in which Republicans took control of the House and gained six seats in the Democratic-controlled Senate. Obama apologized during the meeting for not making a greater effort to reach out to Republican lawmakers during his first two years in office, and appointed Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Office of Management and Budget chief Jack Lew to help Republicans and Democrats hammer out an agreement on extending the Bush tax cuts. In return, all 42 Republican Senators pledged to block all legislation until the tax matter was settled.
  Congressional Democrats offered two attempts to extend the Bush-era rates for "middle income" families but restore the previous, higher rates for "high income" people.  The first proposal had a cutoff at $250,000, while the second raised the dividing line to $1 million.  Both proposals were able to pass in the House, but on December 4, 2010, both fell short of the 60 votes required to avoid a filibuster.
  On December 6, 2010, President Barack Obama announced a compromise tax package proposal had been reached, centered around a temporary, two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts.  In particular, the framework included key points such as:
  Extending the 2001/2003 income tax rates for two years. Also, reforming the AMT to ensure an additional 21 million households will not face a tax increase. These measures are intended to provide relief to more than 100 million middle-class families and prevent an annual tax increase of over $2,000 for the typical family.
  Additional provisions designed to promote economic growth.  $56 billion in unemployment insurance, an approximate $120 billion payroll tax cut for working families, about $40 billion in tax cuts for the hardest hit families and students, and 100 percent expensing for businesses during 2011.
  Estate tax adjustment.  Rates would be 35 percent after a $5 million exemption.
  Obama said, "I'm not willing to let working families across this country become collateral damage for political warfare here in Washington.  And I'm not willing to let our economy slip backwards just as we're pulling ourselves out of this devastating recession. ... So, sympathetic as I am to those who prefer a fight over compromise, as much as the political wisdom may dictate fighting over solving problems, it would be the wrong thing to do. ... As for now, I believe this bipartisan plan is the right thing to do.  It’s the right thing to do for jobs.  It’s the right thing to do for the middle class.  It is the right thing to do for business.  And it’s the right thing to do for our economy. It offers us an opportunity that we need to seize." According to Kori Schulman (2010), Director of Online Engagement for the Whitehouse media team, the agreement has three accomplishments: “working families will not lose their tax cut, focused on high impact job creation measures, and does not worsen the medium-and-long-term deficit.”
  Administration officials like Vice President Joe Biden then worked to convince wary Democratic members of Congress to accept the plan, notwithstanding a continuation of lower rates for the highest-income taxpayers.  The compromise proved popular in public opinion polls, and allowed Obama to portray himself as a consensus-builder not beholden to the liberal wing of his party.  The bill was opposed by some of the most conservative members of the Republican Party as well as by talk radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and some groups in the Tea Party movement.  It was also opposed by several leading potential candidates for the Republican nomination in the 2012 presidential election, including Mitt Romney, typically on the grounds that it did not mak
caption: The Bush Deficit, by Nancy Pelosi
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