If the Bush tax cuts -- all of them, NOT just those on the wealthy -- are allowed to expire, in 2013 (assuming I make the same income that I am this year, which isn't a given since much of my income comes from contract work and self-employment) I will pay an extra...
$345.
With all of the doom-and-gloom talk going around about what will happen if we allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, I looked at that number and immediately thought... wow, that's it?
Can I spare $345 to prevent government programs that benefit the poor and the elderly from being cut? Yes.
Can I spare $345 to break the fanatical, anti-tax right wing? Yes.
Hell, I probably spared about $345 this year to help elect Democratic candidates, in large part because I wanted the Bush tax cuts to expire, and because I didn't want government programs to be cut. There's a certain amount of irony to that: Republicans have been fighting for years to cut taxes and to keep them cut, and I'm spending the money I save under the Bush tax cuts in an effort to get them the hell out of office.
I can spare it. We all should.