Top 5 Problems with the Tax Deal & Baffling Wave Of Tax-Cut Polling Produces Wildly Different Conclusions from MOVEON.ORG & HUFFPOST 14DEZ10

WE have to keep up the pressure on Congress to fix this tax deal and eliminate the huge concessions to the rich and corporate America. If they want tax breaks make them earn them by creating jobs here in America, after all, the argument from supporters for tax breaks for the wealthy will create much needed jobs (though they haven't during the current recession) so grant tax breaks based on American employment by the rich and corporate America! As it is right now, this legislation is immoral, rewarding the rich and greedy at the expense of the poor, working class, and middle class. REMEMBER, DEMOCRACY IS NOT A SPECTATOR SPORT! Keep on e mailing the White House with your opposition to Pres Obama's tax compromise here
http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
and your Senators here
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm 
and your Representative here
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
Here are the top 5 problems with the tax deal from MoveOn.org (share this list by going to
http://pol.moveon.org/taxdealproblems?id=25497-17549061-1zLWuhx&t=3  
And check out the post by Jason Linkins of HuffPost following 

Top 5 Problems with the Tax Deal

Problem #1: The deal is a stealth attack on Social Security.

The deal will lower the payroll tax—the tax that funds the Social Security trust. This is a trap for Democrats. Republicans have been coming after Social Security for years and this cut is the biggest threat to the vital program in decades. It will cut one-third of Social Security's funding this year alone and when we need to restore the payroll tax back to its current level, Republicans will cry "tax increases" and could gut it permanently. ¹

Problem #2: For nearly one in three workers, it's a tax increase.

Nearly 50 million working Americans—including all workers making less than $20,000 per year—and millions of federal, state, and municipal workers will see their taxes go up because of the deal.²

Problem #3: The deal has not one but TWO millionaire bailouts. 

In addition to extending all the Bush income tax breaks for the top 2%, the deal will slash the estate tax. If Congress did nothing, next year the estate tax would be 55% and apply to everyone inheriting $1 million or more. But the deal reduces it to 35% and only people who inherit more than $5 million will have to pay. This second bailout will give a gigantic tax giveaway to a few thousand of the richest families in the country and add hundreds of billions to the national debt.³

Problem #4: Unemployment help is insufficient and inadequate.

While the deal extends unemployment benefits for another 13 months for people currently receiving it, millions of unemployed workers who've struggled the most and been out of work more than 99 weeks—since the giant Wall Street banks wrecked the economy—will get no help at all under the deal.⁴ It's a gamble that there will be jobs in the next 13 months when the insurance runs out, but the tax cuts will go well beyond that. Better to just pass a stand-alone unemployment extension to help all struggling Americans.

Problem #5: Tax giveaways to the rich are a terrible way to create jobs.

Tax breaks for the rich are the least efficient way to create jobs and help the economy grow. In fact the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says extending all tax cuts would lower unemployment only 0.1% to 0.3% over the next year⁵ and that the cost of the tax deal would be $900 billion over the next five years.⁶

We've got to stop this deal and make sure everyone understands what's really in it. Can you share this list now?

Thanks for all you do.

–Nita, Robin, Milan, Wes, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1."Tax Cut Deal A Hidden Threat To Social Security," The Huffington Post, December 8, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205508&id=25497-17549061-1zLWuhx&t=6

2. "Obama-Republican Deal Could Mean Tax Hike For One In Three Workers," The Huffington Post, December 10, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205509&id=25497-17549061-1zLWuhx&t=7

3. "Estate tax deal: worst part of a bad tax compromise," The Christian Science Monitor, December 7, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205510&id=25497-17549061-1zLWuhx&t=8

4. "Unemployment benefits: Extension won't help '99ers'," The Christian Science Monitor, December 7, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205511&id=25497-17549061-1zLWuhx&t=9

5. "The Deal," Paul Krugman, The New York Times, December 7, 2010
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/the-deal/

6. "CBO score shows tax plan ups deficit $900 billion in 5 years," CNN.com, December 10, 2010
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=205512&id=25497-17549061-1zLWuhx&t=10

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Baffling Wave Of Tax-Cut Polling Produces Wildly Different Conclusions

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/14/tax-cut-polling-contradictory_n_796411.html

If you've been following the various polling reports on how the general public feels about the tax-cut package that President Barack Obama brokered and which might, in some form, make it through the legislative process, then you are probably lost and confused. Please fire a flare gun into the air, and we will send rescuers to your area.
Back on Dec. 2, CBS put out a poll that signaled a rough road ahead for anyone who wanted to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for everybody.
Twenty-six percent overall support! That's the same proportion of people who believe trees have spiritual energy. More people approve of the way BP handled the oil spill.
With all the effort being put toward getting this tax cut compromise passed, surely we could repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell". Surely we could legalize weed. And, okay, I admit it: I am a little bit interested in exploring this whole "spiritual energy of trees" thing, because what if the Lorax was right?
But what if the Lorax is actually skewing that poll result? Because depending on how much time has passed, and who asks the question, and what question they ask, the support for the tax-cut compromise is all over the map. Let me pass the mike to HuffPost Pollster's Emily Swanson:

As is typical of any polling on specific issues, different wording can produce vastly different results, which can be quite difficult to interpret. For example, the option of extending the cuts for everyone is not the least popular option in the tax debate itself. While most public polls have shown that extending the tax cuts only for those making less than $250,000 is by far the most popular option, polls have shown that allowing all of the cuts to expire would be even less popular. The same CBS poll found that only 14 percent wanted to let the cuts expire for everyone.

As Emily goes on to note, when Crossroads GPS -- a Rove/Gillespie joint -- is asking the question, here's what happens: "when presented with only two options, 65 percent of likely voters would prefer to extend the cuts and only 29 percent would allow them to expire."
This brings us, inexorably, to Monday's Washington Post/ABC News poll on the matter. Good news for fans of tax-cut compromises: the package now has "broad bipartisan support" -- that is, "About seven in ten Americans back the tax deal negotiated last week by President Obama and congressional Republicans."

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Now for the twist:

The high bipartisan support for the package masks more tepid public approval for some of the main components of the agreement that comes before a key Senate vote Monday afternoon. A slender 11 percent of those polled back all four of the deal's primary tax provisions: an across-the-board extension of Bush-era tax cuts, additional jobless benefits, a payroll tax holiday and a $5 million threshold for inheritance taxes. Just 38 percent support even two of the components.

I guess this is why this tax-cut compromise is so brilliant: in terms of policy, it may be a turd sandwich, but most people are pretty convinced that they'll be getting the bread or the condiments.
I think someone should frame the question like this: "Are you in favor of the tax-cut compromise, even though we're all going to have the same old stupid arguments about this matter in 2012 and it will appear that nobody has learned a blessed thing about what America needs in terms of policy, or would you prefer we came to your house right now and shot you in the face?"
RELATED:
Most Americans Back Tax-Cut Deal Most Americans Hate [Wonkette]