On January 1, 2013, after much faux brouhaha, Congress passed the fiscal cliff bill, H.R. 8: “American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.”
Here’s why it was a “faux brouhaha”:
- Members of the U.S. Senate had only 3 minutes to read the 154-page bill before they voted 89-8 to approve the bill. Senators received the bill at approximately 1:36 AM on Jan. 1, 2013 – a mere three minutes before they voted to approve it at 1:39 AM. I’ve taken longer to read the instructions for my new cell phone.
- House Republicans also violated their pledge to allow three days for the public to read the legislation before they would vote on a bill. This was a promise the GOP made to voters before the 2010 elections.
Even worse is the fact the the fiscal cliff bill not only does NOTHING toward reducing our enormous yearly government deficit, even less America’s even more gargantuan national debt, it will make the problems worse. Here’s why:
- The bill’s proposed spending cuts of $15 billion are less than 2% of the federal government’s annual deficit.
- The bill’s tax increases will raise $620 billion over the next ten years — roughly $62 billion in new tax revenue per year.
- $62 billion in new tax revenue per year is less than 6% of the $1+ trillion deficit the Obama regime has incurred every year for the past four years.
- According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the fiscal cliff bill will cause the national debt to be $4 trillion higher by 2022 than if all of the cliff’s tax increases and spending cuts had been allowed to take effect.
Congressman Mick Mulvaney (R-SC), who voted against the bill, said the fiscal cliff deal actually adds $330,000,000,000 to the national debt with new spending programs.
Tea Party Patriots has a survey asking what you think of the farce of a Fiscal Cliff deal. To take the survey, click here.
~Eowyn
