Could Geithner block middle-class tax hikes if fiscal cliff is reached?
Experts and lawmakers alike agree that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has the power to adjust how much is withheld from paychecks for tax purposes — for all taxpayers or just for some.
By doing so, Geithner could ensure paychecks reflect the White House position that wealthier taxpayers with annual income higher than $250,000 see their taxes rise. Geithner at the same time could leave withholding tables where they are for the middle class, ensuring those workers don’t see a higher cut from their paychecks…
The tactic could buy Washington precious time to strike a tax agreement without pinching the economy, but it carries substantial risk. If the administration miscalculates where rates end up, tinkering with withholding could morph tax refunds into hefty bills.
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If maintaining current tax rates are good for the middle class … why aren’t they good for everyone else?
darwin on December 9, 2012 at 11:06 AM
These repulsive money grabbing thieves spend 24/7 trying to figure out how they will do what they want done, with or without dc or the courts! I detest the whole blooming bunch!
L
letget on December 9, 2012 at 11:08 AM
I’m firmly in the Let It Burn camp. The republic is dead so let’s take a swan dive off the cliff and get it over with.
I really hope they pull this stunt. The howling from the Obamunists when they get a tax bill instead of a refund will be schadenfreudilicious.
single stack on December 9, 2012 at 11:12 AM
I’m firmly in the Let It Burn camp. The republic is dead so let’s take a swan dive off the cliff and get it over with.
I really hope they pull this stunt. The howling from the Obamunists when they get a tax bill instead of a refund will be schadenfreudelicious.
single stack on December 9, 2012 at 11:15 AM
42+million Americans do not have to worry about tax hikes on Food Stamps.
albill on December 9, 2012 at 11:21 AM
So TurboTax Timmy decides to keep withholding levels at Bush Rates.
But then, let’s imagine, Congress doesn’t do a darn thing.
Next year we see everyone with a serious tax bill, since their withholding was insufficient.
Yeah, I can see a Liberal being OK with it.
I’m in the Let It Burn camp. Every tax payer then feels the pain, instead of it being hidden away…again.
ProfShadow on December 9, 2012 at 11:21 AM
Well, then why does Congress need to vote on anything, ever, as it pertains to federal income taxes, if the Treasury secretary can just do whatever he wants anyway?
DaydreamBeliever on December 9, 2012 at 11:23 AM
Never get to that point: Boehner will cave first (or already has). And shed a tear.
Dingbat63 on December 9, 2012 at 11:41 AM
This is the beginning of extra-legal (aka illegal or at least on a whim or a caprice) measures to deal with our now totally bankrupt nation. Obama will take care of his own constituency. We’ll become more and more a nation of men instead of a nation of laws. Equal treatment will go out the window. What liberals always warn of, “each man for himself”, while be a requirement of survival.
More and more people will lose respect for government and the rule of law. Lying, cheating, and stealing will become commonplace. It’s already happening with fraud in food stamp use, SSDI claims, Medicaid. Lying to the federal government will become de rigueur. Game the system, and yell a lot. The squeaky wheels will get the grease.
Paul-Cincy on December 9, 2012 at 11:53 AM
My jaw just literally dropped.
I’ll confess my ignorance — I did not know this was even possible.
Robert_Paulson on December 9, 2012 at 12:06 PM
OK here is the scenario I see possibly happening if they do this extra-legal monkeying around and combine it with class warfare.
We go over the cliff, millions are outraged and shocked to get a tax bill they cannot afford. Obama starts in with this class warfare schtick about how it all unfair, blah, blah, blah, nobody expects the middle class to pay this outrageous tax and it will all get fixed so don’t worry.
Millions of Americans don’t pay the tax and realize that there will be no penalty for doing so. We’ll see the birth of a tax revolt, they can’t arrest us all, right? DC is the one screwing everything up, so F-them, might be an attitude that spreads like wildfire through a frustrated electorate. It could all cascade in a seeming blink of an eye. When 24 million people get a tax bill that the POTUS tells them they won’t have to pay, everyone else is going to feel like a sucker.
Mord on December 9, 2012 at 12:11 PM
Anything is possible when you have no scruples.
Left Coast Right Mind on December 9, 2012 at 12:31 PM
Why do we need Obama, when we’ve got the Czars handling everything?
Once you get rid of the Constitution, everything is easy peasy.
Fallon on December 9, 2012 at 1:50 PM