Boehner's "Plan B" would raise taxes on the poor

Boehner's "Plan B" would raise taxes on the poor.

Why hasn't this bombshell been the headline for the last several days? If your income is under $200,000, "Plan B" would have RAISED your federal taxes.

Look, I'm not going to waste time complaining about the disastrous and disingenuous failure of the House Republicans to do anything that's even close to being good government for America and Americans.

I'm complaining today that Boehner's "Plan B" would have raised taxes on folks earning less than $200,000, and THAT hasn't been the big story this week. For instance, folks in the $10,000-$20,000 income bracket would have had to pay an average $262 more in federal income tax next year.

The Tax Policy Center crunched the numbers on "Plan B" and I saw this semi-obscure story on Yahoo Finance on Friday morning.

Boehner's "Plan B" notoriously raised tax rates on the very wealthy making $1,000,000 or more. We all know that.

But it also eliminated deductions and tax credits that help low-income taxpayers, like the 2009 enhancements to the child tax credit. Where did  you see that detail reported in the news media or by the cable TV talking heads?

Because of the abandonment of the tax credits, the Boehner "Plan B" actually would have RAISED federal income taxes for the average household reporting up to $200,000 in income. And the biggest bite, in percentage terms, would have been on those in the $10,000-$20,000 bracket.

The Republicans of course planned to raise taxes for millionaires by an average of $72,360, and households earning $200,000-$1,000,000 would have seen a tiny tax cut of a couple hundred dollars.

The Republicans deliberately planned to raise taxes through the back door for everyone else.

Which income group are you in?

..on a lighter note...