A reader and professional GOP Hill wonk writes:
The total “cost” according to congressional accounting is $850 billion. Dr. K’s figure definitely includes the “cost” of just keeping current tax policies in place in 2011. Keeping the 2001/2003 tax cut laws in place, which is just preventing a tax increase, is $408 billion of what is being counted as the “cost” of this. Preventing an unintended tax increase via an extension of the AMT path is another $137 billion of the “cost”. The death tax provisions, which are a tax INCREASE compared to 2010, are $68 billion of his figure. So that’s $613 billion right of the bat, and much more than the majority of the total package. And then there are also smaller extensions of existing tax cuts also…