Nearly $1 Trillion Net Tax Hike Proposed In Fiscal Commission’s ‘Tax Reform’ Plan

Over the next 10 years, Americans could see a net federal tax hike of $961 billion if the draft recommendations of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform are enacted. This proposed tax hike would include those earning below $250,000, the people that President Barack Obama has repeatedly pledged would not see a tax hike.

The draft of the National Commission’s report from co-chairmen Erskine Bowles, a Democrat, and Alan Simpson, a Republican, talks about “lower rates” and “comprehensive tax reform.” But the lower rates in question do not offset the tax deductions and tax credits that are eliminated under the plan. Thus there would be a net tax increase.

The report projects $751 billion in revenue from changes to the tax code and another $210 billion from “other revenue.”

The hikes would encompass increased gasoline taxes, a change in the tax brackets and an automatic tax hike when the budget is not balanced. Along with significant spending cuts in the Defense Department, government personnel, eliminating congressional earmarks, and raising the age for collecting Social Security, the commission’s draft proposal is supposed to reduce the federal deficit by $4 trillion in 2020.     

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