How did the tax cut pass? Please someone it to explain to me.

With Dems now in majority, how can something that benefits only the very rich pass?

but I'd like to get a headcount.

Why?

I am absolutely disgusted by this.

We are not in the majority until January, but our failure to block this crap is an outrage. Iraq and a corrupt fiscal mess in congress: this is what the people asked us to deal with and it looks like we are not up to the task.

putting other Dems down before they even become the majority...

Well welcome to DU. Since you are such an expert please explain why our senate Democrats voted to continue tax breaks for the idle class while the middle class, up to their eyeballs in debt, get nothing out of this, while social security and medicare are about to fall off the boomer retirement cliff, while the federal government is drowning in deficits? Go ahead, this should be fun.

They need to always fight for the benefit of the Country. Not wait until they have a majority. Just because they are democrats doesn't mean they are working in our best interest. "D" and "R" are only letters, must i remind you of Zell Miller. In the last six years many democrats got away with saying, "what can we do?". Now more than ever we need to demand they stand up to the tyranny of the right. They don't have an excuse now. You may be surprised how many of the democrats have sold out to the corporate big money machine.

budget bills - which have special rules that make them easier to pass by the majority - the GOP BEING THE MAJORITY - and then since the Dem vote does not matter we always get a few Democrats that want to sell their centrist image and are too inarticulate to explain that a tax cut does not cut the size of government, only spending less cuts the size of government - so they fall back on the media promoted image that tax cuts help people - and vote with the GOP.

It is this stupid logic that screws us all the time.

By the way now instead of new legislation having to pass to keep the tax cuts in place, new legislation will have to pass and be signed by DumbAss in order to rescind this corruption, and that is not going to happen.

I posted this a few minutes ago:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2646006

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a4AooG51fYbw&refer=home

Republican Rule in Congress Ends With Tax Cuts, Trade Measure

By Nicholas Johnston

Dec. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Congress ended 12 years of Republican control by passing tax breaks, trade benefits and a nuclear accord with India, while leaving most budget work unfinished until Democrats take over in January.

Working past 2 a.m., lawmakers also overhauled the U.S. Postal Service and made it illegal to use a false identity to gain access to phone records. <SNIP>

Among the last acts of the Republican-led Congress was passing a measure that extends $38 billion in corporate and individual tax breaks that mostly expired last year. It also allows expanded oil and gas drilling off U.S. coasts and prevents a fee cut for doctors who are paid by Medicare.

The measure renews a $16.3 billion research tax credit that benefits companies such as Palo Alto, California-based Hewlett- Packard Co., and St. Louis-based Monsanto Co., while including $1 billion incentive for retailers such as Bentonville, Arkansas- based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to hire welfare recipients, $2.7 billion for the restaurant industry by allowing faster amortization of construction and money to help clean up abandoned mines.


http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/12/09/CONGRESS.TMP

The 367-45 vote on the tax bill reflected widespread bipartisan support for extending expired tax breaks, including a research and development tax credit for businesses, a tax deduction on college tuition, a tax credit for hiring welfare recipients and others, and tax credits for alternative energy producers and purchases of solar energy equipment by homeowners and businesses.

All told, the tax cuts would cost $38 billion over five years

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/12/09/gop_senator_upbraids_colleagues/

Gregg did not return calls seeking comment after his speech. He was angered by the $45 billion package of tax cuts that was prepared by Republican leaders in the closing hours of the congressional session.

Marbled into the bill's 500 pages were extensions of the popular research and development and student loan tax deductions, a provision allowing taxpayers to deduct sales taxes from their federal taxes if they live in states that do not have income taxes, and a laundry list of special-interest tax cuts.


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-congress9dec09,0,2209156,full.story?coll=la-news-politics-national

<SNIP>Lawmakers worked several healthcare measures into the tax bill, including legislation to cancel a scheduled 5% cut in payments to doctors who treat elderly Medicare recipients, and changes that would allow individuals to put more money into tax-sheltered health savings accounts, a new type of medical insurance favored by many Republicans.

Separately, the tax bill also addressed some unintended consequences of legislation that Congress passed last year to keep illegal immigrants from getting healthcare benefits through the Medicaid program for the poor. Hundreds of thousands of people who were legally entitled to benefits were inadvertently subjected to new requirements that they provide documents proving their citizenship. Some were frail seniors who had never been issued a birth certificate.
<SNIP>

However, Democrats bitterly criticized the provisions that would expand health-savings accounts. Many individuals use the tax-sheltered accounts to pay for routine bills while carrying low-cost "catastrophic" insurance for major medical problems.

Under the legislation, individuals would be able to contribute more money to the accounts, known as HSAs, and roll over limited amounts from Individual Retirement Accounts and other sources.

Some Democrats say the accounts provide a way for upper-income individuals to shelter more of their wealth from taxes and could undermine traditional insurance.<SNIP>

You are correct. These are not the corrupt tax giveaways to the idle droids I was looking for.

Oh well. I'll go curl up under my desk in fetal position now.

:-)

I find it appalling.

take office, a day before and a day after.
The democrats are not in the majority. They will not be until next month.

the horrible republican bills until they get the majority. They might not win, but they should not be helping the republicans.

to deduct up to $250 for supplies they buy for the classroom out of their own pockets. This one has been on the books for years and was set to expire.

I can tell you, most teachers spend a whole lot more than $250 a year for classroom supplies...

a) It was a bill reviving expired tax breaks. Look it up, it's not the "tax cuts for the rich."

b) The Democrats are not in control yet.

Why is it that even here people don't know when a newly elected politician takes office?

Hint: It's not the day after they're elected.