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Here's yet another reason to reject or drastically alter the tax cut deal. I'm all for effective stimulus spending and infrastructure investment, but the money for that stuff has to come from somewhere. Our nation's FICO score is about to go south. There's only one member of the US famliy that has been doing well enough in the past ten years to ensure that doesn't happen, but rich auntie Republicana refuses to loosen her purse strings, even if it means taking the whole family down with her.
"From a credit perspective, the negative effects on government finance are likely to outweigh the positive effects of higher economic growth," Moody's analyst Steven Hess said in a report sent late on Sunday.
Last week, Moody's and Fitch Ratings both expressed concerns about the U.S.'s rating longer term, with Moody's fearing the impact if the tax cuts become permanent.
The US has some of the lowest and least progressive tax incidence rates in the industrialized world and it's THAT situation which going to ruin our credit. High taxed nations (like Germany) with thriving economies prove the conservative myth (tax cuts = job growth) entirely busted.
Conservatives, read this in Rush's voice if it helps... the way to maintain the USA's credit rating without stifling the economy is to let the tax cuts expire for the highest income brackets and to let the scheduled estate taxes take effect.
This isn't about class warfare or envy... it's about the economic health of our nation. What could be more patriotic than protecting that?