Mark Kirk keeps on ranting about the budget deficit, but wants to make sure he’s in the Senate early to stop tax cuts for the wealthy from expiring as he voted for them to years ago:
In a fundraising email today, Kirk reminded supporters about the possibility of a lame duck session with a poll asking, “Which of the following potential lame duck issues do you think would hurt the economy the most?” The poll included four options, but one of them was particularly noteworthy: “A 900 billion tax increase by allowing current federal tax relief to expire.”
Kirk is talking about the Bush tax cuts, which are scheduled to expire at the end of the year, and his premise underscores the GOP’s scornfully dishonest framing of this debate.
To repeat, the Bush tax cuts are scheduled to expire; Republicans passed them into law with an end date in order to hide their true, massive cost. Contrary to the GOP talking points, Democrats aren’t scheming to raise taxes. If Congress simply does nothing, taxes will go up on their own, thanks to Republican policies.
Not allowing the portion of the tax cuts targeted to the wealthy to expire will create a $700 Billion in additional federal debt. So put him in early to get ahead of the game busting the budget!