Plus and Minus

There are some +'s and -'s to the tax cut compromise working its way through Congress.  And there are a number of ways it can be improved.

Plus
Unemployment benefits extended for 13 months
Middle class tax cuts extended for 2 years
Decrease in the payroll tax (Social Security)
The above will help grow jobs since the people receiving them will spend the money and stimulate the economy.
Possible approval of START treaty by Senate
Possible passage of DADT

Minus
1/3 of the tax package goes to rich Americans and corporations - this will add $300 bilion dollars to the deficit without, if history is taken into account, any "trickle down" to create jobs.
The additional debt adds to the potential for a decrease in US bond ratings (Moody's)
It provides a validation of the disastrous conservative vision of the economy that led to the current mess in the first place
If the high end tax cuts are not allowed to expire in 2 years, they will lead to cuts in social services and entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare, further eroding the social safety net of the country and dragging us back to pre-(1930's) depression conditions.  That's really the point of these tax cuts, isn't it?  Or as the very conservative Grover Norquist said: "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." 

How it might be improved
Make the time period for the high end tax cuts expiration one year instead of two
As a minimum, set the estate tax rate back where it was in 2009: 45% on estates worth 3.5 million dollars or more.

The Senate passed the compromise package today but it still needs to get through the House.  Perhaps it can be improved there.  Or perhaps the version the House passed can be taken to committee and reconciled with the Senate bill.  Let's hope so.