Lets not forget what happened here. The Bush Tax Cuts did expire. We do not
have a deficit problem, as of now according to the CBO:
CBO projects a $1.1 trillion federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2012 if current laws remain unchanged.
...
Over the next few years, projected deficits in CBO's baseline decline markedly, dropping to under $200 billion and averaging 1.5 percent of GDP over the 2013–2022 period.
That is because tax law as of RIGHT NOW, will bring in $3.9 trillion in revenue over ten years:
Much of the projected decline in the deficit occurs because, under current law, revenues are projected to shoot up by almost $800 billion, or more than 30 percent, between 2012 and 2014—from 16.3 percent of GDP in 2012 to 20.0 percent in 2014. That increase is mostly the result of of the recent or scheduled expirations of tax provisions, such as those initially enacted in 2001, 2003, and 2009 that lower income tax rates and those that limit the number of people subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT).
Under current law, CBO projects that revenues will continue to rise relative to GDP after 2014 largely because increases in taxpayers’ inflation-adjusted income will push more income into higher tax brackets and subject more of it to the AMT.
So what we are about to do now is pass a tax cut, mostly for the wealthy althought not for the very very wealthy. And what did we get in return? A measly $15 billion in unemployment insurance.
Worse, now we absolutely will have a deficit problem. Again. Which will be used to justify cuts in guess what? Social Security, Medicare, and Medicare.
Winning!