Anybody catch the BIG BOLD RED Drudge Report headline last night and this morning? It has now all but vanished from Drudge, which is curious in of itself.

Delaying Tax Vote Could Crash Stock Market

Nothing like some Conservative fear mongering to help push through the tax break for those who don’t need it.

From US News & World Reports:

Failure by Congress to extend the Bush tax cuts, especially locking in the 15 percent capital gains tax rate, will spark a stock market sell off starting December 15 as investors move to lock in gains at a lower rate than the 20 percent it would jump to next year, warn analysts.

While it is unclear how bad the sell off could be, it could wipe out the year’s gains, they warn.

“Capital gains tax rate will increase from 15 to 20 percent if the tax cuts are not extended. The last time the capital gains tax rate increased–on Jan. 1, 1987 from 20 to 28 percent–investors realized their gains at the lower tax rate,” said Daniel Clifton at a Washington partner at Strategas Research Partners. “We would expect a similar effect this time around as investors see the tax rate going up and choose to realize their gains and incur the 15 percent tax.”

So the Greediest Generation is willing to risk crashing the stock market and the good of everybody for 5% tax savings.

In March and April, 27 million taxpayers will be facing an additional $70 billion in tax payments. The hit to consumer spending would be particularly significant,” he writes.

Shock Doctrine. Conservative Economic Stupidity Epidemic.  Straight up greed.  Call it what you want but the common denominator in the three is selfishness.  Wish I could rant more, but I am on a conference call.