The Foundation

"Have you something to do to-morrow; do it to-day." --Benjamin Franklin

Government

2012-10-01-brief

"The Congressional Budget Office has forecasted a fresh recession to hit next year if Taxmageddon, a nearly $500 billion tax increase, hits the nation and Congress and the President drive us off the 'fiscal cliff.' ... In a new report, Heritage's J.D. Foster explains that the very fact that we can see a recession coming is shocking. 'Economic forecasters almost never forecast recessions,' he says. ... The problem is extremely clear. Congress has left town and isn't scheduled to return until after the November election. With every day that passes, the economy drags, as the uncertainty of January 1 looms. ... Business owners are looking at next year's taxes already and thinking they can't afford to hire. Investors are holding back from expansions and new ventures. This massive uncertainty is holding back all growth and keeping unemployment stubbornly above 8 percent, while millions have dropped out of the labor force because they are so discouraged. ... Think about this: If you're a middle-class American family, Taxmageddon means that your taxes are going up about $4,100 next year. ... It starts to hit home that you have to come up with that $4,100 somehow. You're going to have to make cuts in your lifestyle to be able to pay this tax increase. ... As Foster said, 'President Obama should demand that Congress return to defuse Taxmageddon, and Congress should immediately heed his call. The job need only take a few days away from their campaigning.'" --Heritage Foundation's Amy Payne 

For the Record

"Americans must be wondering how much more of this 'recovery' they can afford. New figures from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, compiled by Sentier Research, show that the typical American household's real (inflation-adjusted) income has actually dropped 5.7 percent during the Obama 'recovery.' Using constant 2012 dollars (to adjust for inflation), the median annual income of American households was $53,718 as of June 2009, the last month of the recession. Now, after 38 months of this 'recovery,' it has fallen to $50,678 -- a drop of $3,040 per household. Yet it gets worse. Amazingly, incomes have dropped even more during the 'recovery' than they did during the recession. In fact, they've dropped more than twice as much as they did during the recession. From the start to the end of the recession, the real median income of American households fell $1,413, or 2.6 percent. From the end of the recession to the present day, it has dropped $3,040, or 5.7 percent. This begs the question: What kind of 'recovery' compares unfavorably with the recession from which it's ostensibly recovering?" --The Weekly Standard's Jeffrey H. Anderson