Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Letter to the editor:

GOP puts politics ahead of our needs

Another view?

View more of the Las Vegas Sun's opinion section:

Editorials - the Sun's viewpoint.

Columnists - local and syndicated writers.

Letters to the editor - readers' views.

Have your own opinion? Write a letter to the editor.

I wonder how many people realize how close they were to getting hit with a major tax increase.

If Congress hadn’t passed the Senate bill, which called for a permanent extension in the Bush tax cuts for the 98 percent of those making less than $250,000, most people would be hurting today. The holdup in passing this bill had been the Republican refusal to increase taxes on the 2 percent of American couples making more than $250,000. Finally, the Democrats compromised; in order to prevent tax increases across the board, the new tax increase is for those couples making over $450,000.

Even that didn’t appease House Republicans —151 of them voted against this bill, meaning they didn’t care if your taxes went up. Meanwhile, 85 Republicans joined with 172 Democrats to get the bill passed.

This refusal by Republicans to negotiate in good faith with President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats will continue. They are now vowing to go to the mat to block an increase in the federal debt ceiling, which would make the United States a deadbeat nation, unable to pay its bills. Republicans are putting politics before our nation’s needs.

Join the Discussion:

Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.

Full comments policy