Biden And Ryan Dispute Economic Toll Of Raising The Top Tax Rates -- But Both Are Correct

Who's Right In The Dispute Over Tax Hikes?
US Vice President Joe Biden (L) and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan (R) arrive on stage for their vice presidential debate at the Norton Center at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, October 10, 2012, moderated by Martha Raddatz (C) of ABC News. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/GettyImages)
US Vice President Joe Biden (L) and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan (R) arrive on stage for their vice presidential debate at the Norton Center at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, October 10, 2012, moderated by Martha Raddatz (C) of ABC News. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/GettyImages)

One of the most politically charged small business matters resurfaced during the vice presidential debate when Paul Ryan and Joe Biden squared off on the connection between high-income tax rates and job creation.

The contention centers around the fate of the Bush-era tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of the year. The administration wants to extend the current tax breaks for the middle class but allow them to expire for families earning more than $250,000 a year, while Republicans support reissuing the cuts for all Americans.

On Thursday, reiterating the framework around which his party has posed the tax question, Ryan warned that allowing the cuts to expire for high-income earners would strike an especially heavy blow to successful small business owners, many of whom pay pass-through income taxes. That, he said, could discourage them from creating new jobs at a time when the country can least afford their hesitation.

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