Well, now we know what the other hand has been doing while we've been watching to magic trick on the Gulf coast. Man, they are getting good at this!
Majority Leader Harry Reid on Monday moved toward an initial vote on a $126 billion bill to extend unemployment insurance that ran out last month for hundreds of thousands of out-of-work Americans and renew a set of popular business tax breaks.
Under Senate rules, the vote on whether to limit debate on the legislation will likely occur Wednesday. Sixty votes are needed out of the 100-member Senate.
Complaints by fiscally conservative Democrats about the plan's price tag and opposition by some Democrats to the investment fund manager tax has stalled the proposal.
Over the next 10 years, the Senate proposal would increase direct spending by $126 billion and add $22 billion in funding to prevent a 21% payment cut to doctors in the Medicare program, the Congressional Budget Office estimated.
The total package adds about $80 billion to the deficit over that period, according to CBO.
(In case you DIDN'T know...the deficit is over $13 TRILLION...without any other added programs, this bill will, by itself, push the deficit to OVER $14 TRILLION)
Don't believe it? U.S. Debt Clock, see for yourself.
The legislation's so-called carried interest tax proposal would require fund managers to pay the much higher ordinary income tax rate on a majority of their income from managing investors' money.
The Senate version would tax 65% of fund managers' income at the higher rate.
A tougher House version would tax 75% at ordinary income rates.
Currently, they only pay a 15% capital gains tax rate on this income, while ordinary income is taxed at a maximum of 35%.
The top tax rate is set to rise to 39.6 percent in 2011, the year this legislation would take effect.
Republicans have offered a stripped-down alternative that would extend unemployment insurance for 30 days, but excludes the controversial tax-raising provisions.
Those Tea Parties are looking pretty good now aren't they?
