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Loren Adler (not verified)
Dec. 4, 2012
You are correct that extending the “Bush” tax cuts and doing nothing else would be irresponsible. Under the Domenici-Rivlin 2.0 plan, however, high-income households would pay higher EFFECTIVE tax rates than they would if the Bush tax cuts for high-earners expired. What our plan proposes is to lower MARGINAL tax rates on income, which have a greater impact on work incentives, while eliminating most of the tax deductions and loopholes that benefit high-income taxpayers. Additionally, in that vein, D-R 2.0 would increase tax rates on capital gains and dividends, which predominantly flow to the rich. Therefore, the wealthy would be contributing MORE in taxes than they would if the Bush tax cuts expired.
D-R 2.0 also does not raise the eligibility age for Medicare or Social Security.