ACN Investigates: Why Your Taxes Probably Went Up

Associated Press

Okay so we should all know by now that a deal was reached to dodge that fiscal cliff everyone in Washington D.C. was freaking out about. And by dodge I mean only for three months. But that doesn't mean that higher taxes on middle class Americans are a thing of the past. While the tax package that Congress passed at the end of the year will protect 99 percent of Americans from an income tax increase will end up paying more federal taxes in 2013.

That's because the legislation did nothing to prevent the expiration of a tax cut at the end of the year. The cut in question was called the Payroll Tax Cut that goes towards Social Security. The Social Security Payroll Tax Cut was enacted in 2010 amid the start of the recovery as a way of putting more money back in people's paychecks. The Blaze reports:

The Tax Policy Center, a nonpartisan Washington research group, estimates that 77 percent of American households will face higher federal taxes in 2013 under the agreement negotiated between President Barack Obama and Senate Republicans.

Households making between $40,000 and $50,000 will face an average tax increase of $579 in 2013, according to the Tax Policy Center’s analysis. Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will face an average tax increase of $822.

However the taxes you may have faced could have been a lot bigger. On New Years Day a lot of taxes were set to go up. Basically every tax cut we experienced that was passed in the Bush years, commonly known as the Bush-era Tax Cuts, were set to expire. Under the fiscal cliff deal most were extended. Still though, a average tax increase of $579 for 2013 for most middle-class families will divvy out to about $50.00 every month If a family makes between $50,000 and $75,000 that could mean about $70 every month. We're not even a month past the enactment of these new tax bumps for most Americans and the stories are beginning to flow in. A relative of mine recently remarked that she had $76 taken out of her paycheck.

In today's partisan world where the issue of blowing one's nose a certain way can be classified as liberal or conservative blame surely will  be dealt for this Payroll Tax Cut being allowed to expire. Right wing blogs from here to kingdom come are laying President Obama with the title of "LIAR" and "THIEF" for promising during the 2012 campaign that people's taxes would not go up. The left on the other hand is blaming the right for playing politics with the country's fiscal obligations and thus allowing this to happen. I had a chance to sit down and investigate where the blame should lie for our taxes going up.

Surprisingly I won't go into a multi-paragraph detail of fiscal lingo to make my case as to why I believe the blame lies where it does. It's actually quite simple, because it's a legal matter, at least technically. But let me first detail the current balance of power and party in the U.S. Government.

In the Supreme Court there are nine justices who determine the legality of laws passed by Congress. There are four liberal leaning justices, four conservative leaning justices and one moderate justice. In the White House there is President Obama who is a democrat. In Congress it is split between the two chambers. There's the House of Representatives and the Senate. In the House the Republicans hold a majority, with 234 and the democrats hold a minority with 201. 218 is technically needed for a majority. In the Senate there are 55 democrats and 45 republicans giving Democrats a majority.

So now that we know the details on the balance of power we can lay blame where blame is due. It should be remembered that when we talk about fiscal matters in the legal world these are called revenue. According to Article 1, Section 7 all revenue bills must originate in the House of Representatives though the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on any other bills. The reasoning for this was that at the time it was felt that the Senate would be filled with more wealthy individuals who would be more inclined to spend money than the House. Also the House with it's greater numbers, would be seen as a better gauge of the wishes of the populace. So in a technical term it is reasonable to conclude that the reason your taxes went up in 2013 was because the House of Representatives crafted a deal. But it is also reasonable to conclude that the Senate is to blame because they allowed the bill through without an amendment extending the Payroll Tax Cut. Then it is also reasonable to conclude that the House is to blame again because even if such an amendment was proposed they can choose not to ratify the bill. Finally the blame could also lie with the President because he ultimately has final approval power.

So which is it? Well the truth is the blame lie with everyone. First you could blame both parties for agreeing to a sequester like scenario that set up the fiscal cliff and the failed "Supercommittee" in 2011. That was supposed to force Congress into action on dealing with the fiscal issues of the nation. So much for that idea I guess. Next you could blame both parties for campaigning for re-election rather than debating fiscal issues in Congress and instead pushing us to the brink. Then you could blame the House and Republicans for not originally proposing said extension. Then blame the Senate and Democrats for not amending the law to include said extension. Then blame Republicans and Democrats for allowing the law to pass after all of the opportunities presented themselves. Then finally blame the President for signing the darned thing into law. Then go back to Congress and blame them for having forced the President into a fiscal corner where if he didn't sign the law it'd been a lot worse. Then go back to the Congress of 2010 and 2011 and blame them for having set us up with this scenario in the first place! Oy vey!!!! The point is that if you're looking for someone to blame you should blame everyone. Sure the task was beholden on the House to do something in the first place, but the others were onlookers and could have prevented this but didn't. That makes them just as culpable.