Boxer Bites… Low and Middle Income Taxpayers

Barbara Boxer sure must be nervous about November 2 … she got out of Dodge fast! But in her haste to leave Washington, Boxer decided that saving her own job was more important than stopping tax increases on every Californian. And low- and middle-income Californians are the ones who will have to pay the price for Boxer's failure to extend any of the 2001 and 2003 tax relief measures.

"Low-Income Workers Stand To Lose The Most If Lawmakers Fail To Reach A Consensus On The Bush-Era Tax Cuts, According To A New Report From The Tax Foundation." (Jay Heflin, "Study: Expiration Of Bush Tax Cuts Will Hit Poorest Hardest," The Hill's "On The Money" Blog, www.thehill.com, 10/7/10)

The Impact On Low-Income Taxpayers Will Be "Far Greater" Than The Impact On Wealthy Americans Because "They Live On Slimmer Margins." "The report states that on Jan. 1 the doubling of the child tax credit, increased standard deductions and income credits, and the creation of the 10 percent tax bracket - all of which primarily aimed at non-wealthy taxpayers - will vanish if gridlock persists in Washington. While wealthier taxpayers pay more in taxes and stand to lose more money if the tax cuts expire, the impact on low-income taxpayers will be far greater since they live on slimmer margins." (Jay Heflin, "Study: Expiration Of Bush Tax Cuts Will Hit Poorest Hardest," The Hill's "On The Money" Blog, www.thehill.com, 10/7/10)

If Congress Fails To Act, California's Middle-Income Families Will Suffer An Average Tax Hike Of More Than $1,600. (Tax Foundation Website, www.taxfoundation.org, Accessed 10/2/10)

Tax Foundation's Nick Kasprak Called The Threat Of A Full Expiration Of All Tax Cuts "Quite Real." "'The various tax proposals made by the parties in Washington all extend most of these low-income tax cuts,' said the report's author, Nick Kasprak, in prepared remarks. 'But the current Congress has shown itself to be unusually susceptible to gridlock so the threat of automatic, full expiration of all these cuts is quite real.'" (Jay Heflin, "Study: Expiration Of Bush Tax Cuts Will Hit Poorest Hardest," The Hill's "On The Money" Blog, www.thehill.com, 10/7/10)
Yet again, Boxer's election-year rhetoric about fighting for the people of California is simply not borne out by her record. And that means Californians who are already struggling under the weight of a 12.4 percent unemployment rate are one step closer to facing the biggest tax increase in our nation's history, thanks to Barbara Boxer's ineffective leadership and failure to put partisan politics aside for the good of the people of this state.

And that bites.