The GOP will continue to play games with the world economy, dangling the prospect of disaster in hopes of keeping the goodies for the only social class that still finds them relevant. This will roil the markets and infuriate responsible economists here and around the world. Everybody but the super-rich hwill be hurt by this tactic. But there is a simple way to avert all disaster, because there is a guaranteed way of keeping the tax cuts for the lower and middle classes while letting them expire for the Adelson-aires. Bypass Congress completely. Here’s how.
1. Do not enter into any craven deals with the GOP in order for them to set the policy agenda for this administration.
2. Allow the Bush tax cuts to expire on January 1st.
3. Since the IRS makes its own policy on withholding, direct the IRS, which is a branch of the Executive and under direct control of the President, to issue directives that will on January 1st 2013 reduce all withholding rates, except for those making $250,000 or more, to the level they were before the tax cuts expired.
What this will do is effectively and immediately reinstate the tax cuts for all but the wealthiest earners until such time as the GOP realizes that they will have to compromise in order to keep their precious Pentagon spending, corporate welfare and multi-billion giveaways to agribusiness .
Plus it will demonstrate a long needed example of the Democrats standing up unified against a bullying, greedy, evil-empire GOP.