With nearly 13 million unemployed, the Senate passed a big tax increase on more than a million small businesses. Per Obama's instructions, 51 Democratic senators would kill over 700,000 jobs.

Democrats are now on record espousing a curious election-year economic policy:

• Kill 710,000 jobs.

• Shrink real after-tax wages by nearly 2%.

• Lessen the nation's long-run economic output by $200 billion, or 1.3%.

• Reduce the private sector's capital stock by 1.4% and long-term investment by 2.4%.

These numbers come from an Ernst & Young study this month using the firm's U.S. economic model.

The Democrat-controlled Senate passed this by a 51-48 margin Wednesday, voting to raise marginal income-tax rates from 33% to 36% for individuals making more than $200,000 and from 35% to 39.6% for couples making more than $250,000, some 2.5 million households.

 

On top of that body blow to the economy, which the House is sure to block, the Senate Democrats' vote would also increase the top tax rate on capital gains and dividends from 15% to 20%