Obama Misleads On Tax Debate; Boehner Looks Foolish

December 23, 2011 7 Comments

Weepy Speaker John Boehner caved to Obama and the Senate Democrats by passing a two month extension of the 2% payroll tax cut from a year ago. Boehner and House Republicans were looking to extend it a year. The whole debate bordered on absurdity. The Senate passed the two month extension and then skipped town. Somehow it would be the House Republicans fault if the tax were increased. Never mind of course that the House passed a year long extension before the Senate passed their two month extension. Facts can be pesky things.

Speaking of pesky facts, Obama spent the better part of the past few days claiming that not extending the tax rate would cost middle class Americans $40 a week. Let’s do the math shall we? It’s a 2% tax hike if the tax was not extended. A family making $50,000 a year would see an additional $1,000 in tax, which works out to about $20 a week. Keep in mind the average family makes $50,000. In order to see a $40 tax hike you have to make $100,000 a year. Only about 20% of families make this much or more each year, meaning 80% make less. Obama was being disingenuous as usual.

But of course the President went over the top, running around DC with his dog and several pizza boxes claiming that family pizza night would be ruined if the House GOP didn’t pass the two month tax extension. Not only would family pizza night be ruined, but surely someone wouldn’t be able to afford gas to go visit their elderly father at the old folks home. We’ll pretend that not authorizing the Keystone pipeline isn’t responsible for that. Obama laid it on thick most of the day. He looked utterly ridiculous and unpresidential in doing so. But this has never stopped Obama before.

Speaker Boehner meanwhile comes off as a complete dufus. What was the point of this battle? Reasonable people can see that the House passed a year long tax rate extension before the Senate passed their two month extension. The Senate’s two month extension is ridiculous, most people understand that. But what did Boehner think he was going to gain by threatening not to pass the two month extension? Did he really think Harry Reid was going to call the Senate back to pass a full year extension?

Speaker Boehner had an oppertunity to run around the country accusing the Democrats of playing politics by passing a two month extension and making this issue come up again in February. He had the chance to scream to the high hills that the Democrats were going to threaten to increase middle class taxes in two months. Instead, Boehner threatened to let the tax increase unless the Senate passed a year extension. This was a pointless error. The only positive around this error is that it happened at a time of year when few are paying attention. But it was pointless nonetheless.

Everyone came off looking like a fool during this debate. Obama was misleading about how much the tax cut was really worth to middle class Americans and he looked ridiculous with his pizza boxes and sob stories. Boehner looks like an utter fool for having spent the week threatening not to pass a two month extension before passing it. Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats look like fools for only passing a two month extension in the first place. But let’s be honest, the big loser is Boehner because the left-wing media is setting up the story that way. In turn, it’s the GOP who lost here. One wonders for what purpose.

Filed under Taxes Tagged with , , , , , ,

Tax and Spend Obama Proposes More Of The Same

September 19, 2011 Leave a comment

Obama’s mantra of hope and change has devolved into the same old Democrat arguments. Obama has become the tax and spend liberal who would rather engage in class warfare than come up with new solutions to our economic problems. It isn’t surprising for those who knew going in Obama was a socialist. For the independent voters who thought they were getting something new and different, it must be quite a shock.

Obama is set to announce a plan to increase taxes by $1.5 trillion on the so-called rich. Keep in mind that in Obama’s word those wicked millionaires and billionaires begin popping up with income levels at $250,000. Just two years ago the President declared that the last thing we would want to do is “raise taxes during a recession.” I guess he’s changed his mind. Obama plans on eliminating the Bush tax cuts, which he extended just 10 months ago. He also plans on eliminating charity deductions, which will cost charities 40% of their upper end donations.

The problems with Obama’s grand plan are numerous. First, it’s a huge mistake to raise taxes during a recession. All he’s doing is taking money out of the job creating private sector and handing it off to government that will not create any jobs with it. Second, Obama’s plan calls for $1 trillion in new spending. That happens today, the tax increases are over the course of 10 years. He claims this is all budget neutral but you’ve got to go over 10 years to do that. In one year the deficit will skyrocket.

But it doesn’t stop there. Obama’s plan includes another $250 billion in medicare cuts which look great along side the $500 billion he cut via Obamacare. He also plans on cutting $72 billion from Medicaid and another $125 billion from other subsidy programs. Obama is prepared to declare that we’ll magically be able to save $430 billion by lowering debt interest payments. Who in their right mind is going to believe that sort of accounting wizardry?

We’re all in favor of cutting back on government spending. Getting rid of farm subsidies and other goodies is great. Medicare and Medicaid need to be radically overhauled but not in the way Obama is proposing. Obama’s cuts to those programs, totaling around $300 billion, are cuts to service providers. In other words, Obama is planning on cutting $300 billion to doctors. What doctor is going to accept Medicare patients if he isn’t going to get paid an adequate amount for his service? Obama is trying to create a Medicare crisis so as to further socialize our health system. The problem of course is that it’s government creating the crisis, intentionally.

Obama’s plan is more or less dead on arrival. The Republicans aren’t going to pass his tax increases. John Boehner won’t even hold a vote on it. The public is weary of giant bills with all sorts of goodies tucked away inside. Obama’s plan will have limited traction. It might be enough to stop a primary challenger but it isn’t going to be enough to win back the voting public.

Hope and change was a lie. Obama is just another tax and spend liberal Democrat, albeit one more socialist than those of recent memory. He is devoid of new ideas so he’s retreading typical Democrat tax increases and a new version of his Stimulus package. Tax increases have never spurred economic growth and his Stimulus was a failure the first time around. Obama’s jobs speech didn’t increase his approval rating outside the margin of error. In the Gallup poll his number actually went below 40 late last week. This President is stuck on old, failed Democrat policies and he doesn’t know how to break free of them.

Filed under 2012 election, economy, Obama, Taxes Tagged with , , , , , ,

Warren Buffet Is Wrong,Taxing The Rich Won’t Raise Enough Revenue

August 22, 2011 Leave a comment

Warren Buffet has called for higher taxes for billionaires. Actually, he doesn’t just advocate higher taxes on billionaires. He wants the government to stop “coddling” those who make over $1 million a year. This may sound great to Democrats who wish to demonize the rich, unfortunately the numbers just don’t add up. If you listen to the media you might believe there is a legion of billionaires out there who are hoarding all of their money and hurting the little guy. The fact though is that there really aren’t that many billionaires out there and they really don’t make that much money.

According to the non-partisan Tax Foundation, taxing those making over $10 million at a 100% rate would only net the Federal government $186 billion in additional revenue. This may sound like a lot, but in the age of $1.6 trillion annual budget deficits, the additional revenue only amounts to a 12% reduction in the deficit. The Tax Foundation also points out that if taxes were increased on those making $1-10 million a year to 50% only an additional $119 billion would be raised, an 8% budget deficit reduction.

Just for fun, let’s tax all of these people at 100% over $1 million, the amount the government brings in would only be $400 billion. With a $1.6 trillion budget deficit, the new revenue would only reduce the deficit by 25%. Who do you suppose will end up paying for the $1.2 trillion in deficit that remains? The middle class of course.

There are unintended consequences associated with taxing the wealthy at such high rates. The top 2% in this country account for 40% of the consumer spending in the nation. The top 10% account for over 60%. If the rich don’t have money to spend on consumer goods, how exactly can the middle class earn a living? The middle class depends on the rich buying goods and services from us. The rich account for the overwhelming amount of investment in this country. If they don’t have money to invest, how can jobs be created for the middle class? At a 100% tax rate, the rich have no incentive to work. If they aren’t working, how are all the big businesses in the country going to function properly?

The problem in Washington isn’t that the rich aren’t being taxed enough. It is clear that even if every penny over $1 million in income is taken by the government the deficit alone won’t be reduced by more than 25%. The problem in Washington is that they’re spending to much money. Walter Williams last year pointed out that even if all of the wealth of billionaires was confiscated by the state and every penny over $1 million was taxed the Federal government couldn’t survive past July in one calendar year. The problem isn’t that the government coddles billionaires, the problem is that government spends to much money.

In the end, it will be the middle class that pays for the bulk of the budget deficit. We will pay for it not only out of our pockets but we’ll also pay for it in lost job creation and money lost to increased interest rates. The government doesn’t need to tax people more, the government needs to cut its budget. Until the government gets serious about its budget problems and makes serious cuts, our nation is on the fast track to debt default. There just aren’t enough rich people to tax us out of our budget problems.

Filed under economy, Politics, Taxes Tagged with , , , , ,

Obama’s Speech Proves Who Isn’t The Adult In The Room

July 26, 2011 Leave a comment

The adult President gave yet another primetime address last night. Since cable television and the internet the power of these addresses has been diminished. Less than 20% of the country watches these addresses, so the ability of any President to direct debate in the country is reduced compared to 20+ years ago. In any event, Obama’s address was more campaign rally than actual policy address. He called on Americans to call their Congressman to complain and told us he wouldn’t bore us with plan details. I guess we just aren’t smart enough to understand Obama’s plan but the drones are capable of picking up the phone and annoying Congressional staffers and interns.

The fact is that Congress already has two plans out there that have bipartisan support. Neither includes tax increases. Harry Reid has agreed to cut $2.7 trillion in spending in exchange for a debt ceiling increase that will put this issue to rest until after the 2012 election. Speaker Boehner has a plan for a $1 trillion debt ceiling increase coupled with $1.2 trillion in spending cuts and a committee to investigate and recommend an additional $1.8 trillion in cuts. Reid’s plan would likely pass the House, at this point Boehner’s plan would likely pass the Senate.

That leaves the President to decide whether he wishes to veto what a bipartisan Congress has passed. For all of Obama’s talk about bipartisan cooperation last night, if he vetos what anything that comes out of this Congress he is the one who will look like an ideologue. For all of Obama’s whining about House Republicans, he is ignoring bipartisan efforts taking place in the Senate. He said yesterday he opposed Reid’s compromise bill because it doesn’t include tax increases.

Speaking of tax increases, Obama trotted out the corporate jet tax again yesterday. He must think that plays well in the ears of the average American but his corporate jet tax has already been proven to be a meaningless political ploy. As of nearly three weeks ago, it’s been proven that his jet tax would only bring in $300 million a year and likely would cost jobs in the airplane manufacturing sector. Obama must think the American people are so stupid that they can’t get online and read all about this issue.

The President must also think the American people are to stupid to figure out that the top 2% (who barely make $250,000 a year) account for 40% of consumer spending in this country. They also pay the lions share of Federal taxes. Any tax increase on this group will result in two things. First consumer spending would decrease, which would negatively affect the middle class in both the service and manufacturing sectors. Second, investment would decrease which would result in loss of job creation.

President Obama is attempting to do what Congressional Democrats and President Bush did in 1991. Bush agreed to tax increases in exchange for some nominal spending cuts. The problem is that the tax cuts killed the economy and resulted in increased unemployment. As a result, more Americans went on welfare, food stamps and medicaid. The cost of having more Americans on these programs more than off set the spending cuts. Obama is playing a game here. He doesn’t want any reduction in Federal spending and he knows he won’t get one if there are tax increases.

Republicans need to hold firm. This President doesn’t have a plan of his own and as a result he will be stuck with whatever Congress passes. The fact that Obama doesn’t want to bore us with plan details shows us just how disingenuous he is. Obama will not commit to anything and has already shown us he’s willing to move the goal posts. Speaker Boehner needs to hold firm, even if it means going along with Reid’s plan. Let Obama veto a bipartisan bill.

Filed under economy, John Boehner, Obama, Politics, Taxes Tagged with , , , , , ,

Obama Overplays Debt Ceiling Cards As Reid Caves

July 25, 2011 Leave a comment

Joseph Curl of the Washington Times wonders whether the President is a pathological liar. I am reluctant to accuse anyone of lying unless it can be absolutely proved. While I won’t call the President a liar concerning the debt ceiling negotiations, yet, he certain has shown what a poor negotiator he is. Obama takes a very elementary school approach to the Presidency. He’s like a 7 year old who thinks the President gets to boss everyone around and get his way no matter what. It of course doesn’t work like that.

The President misled the American people when he declared that Speaker Boehner walked away from the negotiating table last week. Boehner was about to agree to nearly $800 billion in new taxes before the President suddenly demanded $400 billion more. He moved the goal posts, despite the fact that he was about to get the Republicans to break a major campaign promise.

Obama’s move to demand even more tax money was perhaps rooted in his loss of liberal support in the polls. In the end it will cost the President dearly. Sen. Harry Reid is set to cave to the Republicans, agreeing to $2.7 trillion in cuts without any tax increases. The President has declared his opposition to the plan supported by Reid. But if this were to pass a bipartisan Congress, Obama would have almost no choice but to sign the bill. A Presidential veto may make the far left happy but it will ensure Obama’s defeat next year.

It didn’t have to be this way for the President. He had Boehner right where he wanted him. The Speaker was set to agree to nearly $800 billion in new taxes until the President got greedy. Obama could have beaten the Republicans over the head with such a deal, they would have broken their campaign pledge of 2010. But the President chose to cater to the far left and demand even more taxes, in the end he may very well end up with nothing. Meanwhile weaking John Boehner, moments from caving to $800 billion in tax increases, comes out the hero.

Why would President Obama do this? There are two theories that come to mind. First, Obama was a two year Senator (yes, he served four years but the last two were largely spent campaigning for President) and as such he came into office with very little negotiating experience. During his first two years, the President largely ignored Republicans and because of Democrat super majorities in Congress he never had to negotiate with Republicans. As a result, the President doesn’t know how to negotiate a major bipartisan deal. His missteps during this entire debate suggest he doesn’t know what he’s doing. After all if the President wanted more revenue so badly why did he extend the Bush tax cuts just six months ago?

It’s hard to believe though that this President is so naive as to not be able to handle negotiating a deal. Obama may be a socialist, but he’s not an idiot. He’s doing all of this intentionally. Whether he believes that he’ll score political points if a deal isn’t done or if he his ties to radical socialism have poisoned Obama to the point where a debt default would be good for his long term vision of socialism I don’t know. If the President believes the country will blame Republicans for a default he has another thing coming if he veto’s Reid’s compromise bill. If he believes default will create conditions for socialist revolutionaries to gain power, he’s sadly mistaken. The country won’t move to the left if Obama causes a default, the country will move to the right. This, after all, isn’t Europe.

President Obama is leading the nation towards debt default by refusing to seriously negotiate a deal. The President has been inconsistent and all over the place during the entire debate. He has yet to offer his own plan. He over played his political cards last week and it is going to cost him big. Whether he’s lying and whether he has some ulterior motive for all of this remains to be seen. What we do know is that the President over played his cards and he’s set himself up to take the blame when and if there is a default.

Filed under John Boehner, Obama, Taxes Tagged with , , , , , ,

Fox News Anti-Tea Party Bias Exposed

July 25, 2011 Leave a comment

I have just returned from a lovely trip to Northern Michigan with my family, which explains my absence during the last 10 days. I was without internet access up north, largely by choice. I wanted to enjoy my vacation, I did not want to spend the entire time reading articles about the debt ceiling debate. I know this may be shocking to some of you but there comes a point in life where one needs a break from debt ceiling negotiation watching.

While I did not have internet access, I did have cable television. I admit, I’m a glutton for punishment so about once a day I would pop on to see what Fox News was reporting. Much to my dismay, it appeared the Republicans were losing on all fronts. Public opinion was turning against the GOP, Obama was gaining momentum. Meanwhile John Boehner and Senate Republicans were caving in on all sides. The Gang of Six had some grand plan to cut spending and raise taxes, which Obama supposedly supported. This is all on Fox News, I never turned to CNN or MSNBC.

I return home to find President Obama’s poll numbers lower than they were prior to the Osama bin Laden killing. Gallup had the President at 42 yesterday and Rasmussen had him at 45. Even the Fox News poll shows Obama at 45, yet their reporting and commentary would have led one to believe that Obama was winning the PR battle over the debt ceiling. So much for right-wing bias on Fox News. If anything, their reporting tended to bolster Obama at the expense of whatever the Republicans are trying to do.

So why have Obama’s poll numbers dropped? While I don’t think Speaker John Boehner is the best attack dog against the President, he and his Republican caucus have made one point that has resounded with the American people. President Obama has never offered a plan. The American people have seen this and it doesn’t instill confidence in the White House. If the President doesn’t have a plan of his own, he has a lot of nerve endlessly attacking every Republican plan. The end result is that his numbers have dropped.

In fact, not only has President Obama not offered a debt ceiling plan of his own, he’s never offered much of anything on his own. He never offered his own Stimulus or Obamacare plans, he relied on Congress to create the plans which he latched onto. He’s never offered his own budget plan. In fact, since Obama took office the Democrats have never offered a budget of their own. The Pelosi Congress went two years without passing a budget and the Senate Democrats still haven’t offered or passed a budget. That isn’t lost on the American people.

After spending a week away from the news it is clear that Fox News isn’t as conservative as the left wishes to make them out to be. They roundly attacked the GOP last week and suggested that Obama was winning the hearts of America again. He was doing no such thing. If Fox News is anything, it’s a supporter of RINO moderate Republicans who  have spent the last month in a panic over the Tea Party’s grip on the House GOP. The Tea Party is winning right now and perhaps that’s caused the RINO’s at Fox to panic. Either way, Fox isn’t the conservative network the left wants to paint it as.

Filed under economy, John Boehner, Obama, Politics, Taxes Tagged with , , , , , ,

Obama Loses His Cool; Storms Out of Meeting

July 14, 2011 Leave a comment

President Obama snottily walked out of a debt ceiling negotiating session with Congressional Republicans yesterday. Apparently unable to handle having anyone disagree with him, the President shouted “don’t call my bluff” at Eric Cantor. The President further whined that Republicans were only catering to their base. Apparently in the President’s mind because he doesn’t keep his campaign promises, Republicans shouldn’t either.

If President Obama and the Democrats believed raising taxes was so very important, why didn’t they raise them last December? You’ll recall that the Bush tax cuts were set to expire on January 1st. It was the Democratic Congress which passed a two year extension of the Bush tax cuts. If Obama believed raising revenue was so very important, why didn’t he do it then?

It’s simple, he’s playing a political game. He howled that the debt ceiling negotiations were why Americans don’t like Washington. In reality, it was Obama who set up this battle that he’s now complaining about. Perhaps Obama is the Jell-O President as Speaker John Boehner claims. The administration has had months to deal with this situation. It was only in the last two weeks that they decided they wanted tax hikes. The GOP promised the American people they wouldn’t raise taxes, they had better stick to their word.

President Obama seems to be losing his cool across the board. Unable to handle disagreement from Republicans, he is now setting his sights on the press. The media was informed they weren’t allowed to yell out questions at the President. It is unclear whether the precious angel doesn’t want to get yelled at or if he doesn’t want to be bothered with answering questions about his administration’s position. Either way, the President is getting testy. It’s very unbecoming Mr. Cool.

This President is responsible for a massive increase in Federal spending. Now he doesn’t want to reign it in. It is unclear how much in tax increases this President actually wants. Congressional Democrats want to cripple the economy with $2 trillion in new taxes. Obama has offered tax increases that border on the absurd, such as the private jet tax which will raise a whole $300 million a year. Just a two years ago Obama argued that raising taxes in a struggling economy was “the last thing you want to do.” Unless he believes this isn’t a struggling economy, he clearly wants tax increases. The question is how much President Jell-O wants.

So while the President is all over the board on tax increases, it’s up to the GOP to hold firm in their opposition to new taxes. The GOP needs to go to the American people and tell us that they are doing exactly what we elected them to do. That being, cutting Federal spending. It is President Obama that is engaging in obstruction, going so far as to storm out of meetings in a snit. This President may have sold out all his extreme leftist pals by not closing Guantanamo, extending the Bush tax cuts and not pushing harder for the public option. It’s not the Republicans job to equal him by selling out the American people who elected them to cut spending and not raise taxes.

Filed under 2012 election, economy, John Boehner, Politics, Taxes Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Eat Our Peas? How About No New Taxes?

July 12, 2011 1 Comment

The condesending Obama has returned in fine form. Yesterday the President declared it’s time for us to “eat our peas.” Apparently eating our peas is code word being “serious” and raising taxes. The President complained that he would rather be talking to the media about “new programs” or “the NFL season.” In that little exchange Obama proved that he just doesn’t get it. New programs are the reason why the Federal government has the problems it has now. The government is spending to much and it’s time to reign in spending.

Meanwhile the Al Jolsen of the administration, Vice President Joe Biden, is busy telling an audience that no “real” economist believes tax increases will cost jobs. “C’mon man, let’s get real” Biden barked yesterday in his best street wise, man of the people voice. It is unclear which is worse, Biden’s condensending man of the people rhetoric or his condesending attitude towards economists who don’t agree with him. There are thousands of economists out there who will be happy to argue that tax increases kill jobs. But of course they aren’t “real” economists. Joe Biden is apparently the economist gatekeeper.

The fact is that tax increases will cost jobs. Around 40% of consumer spending in this country comes from the top 2%. If those people are taxed at higher rates, that means less consumer spending. Who do you suppose that’s going to hit the hardest? The middle class of course. It means fewer purchases, which hurts the manufacturing sector, the retail sector and all the jobs that feed off the middle class. Not to mention with less money, the top 2% won’t be able to invest in companies that create jobs. Tax increases are most certainly a job killer.

High taxes and massives spending deficits have hurt all of us. The down economy that Obama hasn’t been able to turn around has affected blacks the hardest. Black net worth has fallen by 83%. Black unemployment has increased dramatically under Obama. His policies have had an affect on people and unfortunately it’s not very good. The black middle class is fast disappearing thanks to this recession. It is Obama’s policies that have ensured that the recession continues on, sapping blacks of more of their wealth. Even worse, Obama’s policies are bleeding blacks of their upward move to the middle class.

Federal economic policy does have an affect on average Americans. It can be positive or negative. Over regulation, high taxation and high spending is bad for everyone. It stifles job creation, which hurts all of us. Smaller government, with tax cuts and spending cuts has the opposite effect. The more money in the hands of the private sector, the more jobs will be created. Money in the hand of government is little more than a waste.

While Obama is busy playing school yard bully or nanny, the Republicans have offered serious plans to get the economy rolling again. Obama wants to play class warfare, even if it means his policy hurts the lower and middle classes. It’s sort of incredible that the President has the audacity to push his weight around at this late hour, after having spent the first six months of the year avoiding Republicans at all cost. His class warfare is transparent. The GOP needs to stick to their guns. No new taxes!

Filed under 2012 election, economy, Taxes Tagged with , , , , , ,

Obama Plays Class Warfare; Jet Tax Would Bring In Measly $300 Million

June 30, 2011 1 Comment

President Obama held a press conference yesterday bordered on the absurd. Apparently the President is very upset that Congress is taking a 4th of July break. Obama believes Congress should stay in Washington to work on the debt ceiling issue. Sounds good, unfortunately it’s absurd in light of the fact that Obama has been nowhere to be found at the debt ceiling negotiations. If Obama is unwilling to get involved, why should Congress work on his schedule?

Obama’s presser had nothing to do with the debt ceiling. It was his announcement that he’s running for re-election. His strategy is clear, he’s going to play class warfare for the next year and a half. More so than he’s already been playing it. Obama whines that without tax increases children won’t go to college, old people will die without medical research and no one will know if a thunder storm is on the way because the National Weather Service won’t exist. (Obama believes we’re to stupid to stick our head out the window and know for sure whether it’s raining unless government tells us)

What was most absurd about Obama’s argument is that the rich are jet owners. Mind you the rich as far as Obama is concerned earn $250,000. The Wall Street Journal points out that those who earn that little cannot afford private jets. One has to earn in the millions to really be able to afford such luxury. Even if Congress gets rid of the corporate jet tax break, it will bring in a measly $3 billion over 10 years. The Federal government spends nearly $11 billion a day, the $300 million in taxes raised in one year if the jet tax is increased wouldn’t even pay for an hour of government spending in one day.

President Obama knows very well that the eliminating the corporate jet tax loophole wouldn’t raise any significant revenue. Just like he knows that eliminating the Bush tax cuts for the “rich” would only bring in $21 billion next year. These revenue increases wouldn’t amount to much of anything in light of a deficit of $1.6 trillion. Obama knows this, he’s not dumb. He’s playing politics though. He’s creating a class conflict by giving the impression that the “rich” are being handed all sorts of tax breaks by Republicans at the expense of services and goodies handed out to the poor and middle class.

Unfortunately the truth isn’t on Obama’s side. The rich aren’t riding around in private jets and even if government were to confiscate all income over $250,000 and all assets of billionaires the government could barely make it into July in one year before running a deficit. What the government does the next year is anyone’s guess but it can’t be good for the middle class. The fact is that if government spending isn’t brought under control, all of the middle class goodies and services that Obama wants to protect will be lost in a sea of debt default or inflation.

Tax increases to pay off China aren’t going to create jobs here in America. But in class warfare, it doesn’t matter so long as the rich are demonized and the poor and middle class are turned into victims. This sort of leftist nonsense may have worked in days gone by but it’s tired and old these days. The internet has largely exposed class warfare as little more than the folly of communists and assorted radicals. The numbers are readily available and the internet allows everyone to see that Obama’s statements on jet setters and the poor just don’t add up.

Filed under 2012 election, economy, Politics, Taxes Tagged with , , , , ,

Obama Administration Seeks Small Business Tax Increase

June 24, 2011 2 Comments

A lot has been made about Eric Cantor and the Republicans walking out of debt ceiling negotiations with Vice President Biden and the Democrats over tax increases. We should surely support the GOP effort to not raise taxes. Hopefully they won’t chicken out and given into the Democrats. Tax increases at this time would completely destroy our fragile economy. There could be nothing worse for the economy right now than taking money out of the private sector and handing it over to government.

But the debt ceiling negotiations aren’t even the most interesting tax story of the day. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told a House Committee that he wanted to raise small business taxes. Around two thirds of those employed by the private sector work for small businesses. It is small businesses that are having trouble accessing capital via bank loans and revenue. Yet Geithner and the Obama administration want to further limit their access to capital by raising small business taxes. No wonder the economy appears on the verge of a double dip recession.

Geithner doesn’t just want to raise taxes on small businesses, he wants to raise taxes on those rich people who earn $250,000 a year. It’s Geithner’s logic that is the most outrageous. He told the committee:

We’re not doing it because we want to do it, we’re doing it because if we don’t do it, then, again, I have to go out and borrow a trillion dollars over the next 10 years to finance those tax benefits for the top 2 percent, and I don’t think I can justify doing that.

Geithner is referring to the Bush tax cuts that the Democrats in Congress and Obama signed a two year extension on. His implication is that leaving taxes at their current rate is some sort of “tax benefit.” What Geithner is really saying though is that all income belongs to the Federal government and any allowance for individuals to keep their money is a “tax benefit.”

Geithner gets away with revealing the true nature of the progressive left and this administration’s view of taxes when they present it in context of the boogeyman rich. But let’s apply their logic to the middle class. If the 4% Bush tax cuts for the rich (keep in mind the Bush tax cuts were for everyone) are “tax benefits” then so are all sorts of middle class tax cuts. For example, child tax credits are “tax benefits” and so is the mortgage deduction and the property and state tax deduction. In fact, so is the personal exemption and all dependant exemptions. Charitable giving is a “tax benefit” according to the Treasury Secretary.

In other words, all of our money belongs to the government in the view of Tim Geithner and the Obama administration. Any of our income that we are allowed to keep is a “tax benefit.” The Obama administration may not wish to demonize the middle class like they demonize those wicked rich people earning $250,000, but it’s clear those of us in the middle class are the beneficiaries of “tax benefits.”

For small business, it’s clear that Geithner views all of their profits as property of the government and he wants to strip away their “tax benefits.” It doesn’t particularly matter to him whether tax increases will be good or bad for the economy. Geithner will go so far as to claim the tax increases will be good for small business. The guy will say anything to raise taxes. Even on the very businesses that create the most jobs with the most difficulty. Don’t forget, it is small business that is bearing the astronomical costs of Obamacare and Obama’s regulatory schemes. Now the administration wants to kill even more new jobs by raising small business taxes.

The Geithner position is an absurd view of what taxes cuts are, though sadly it is not uncommon among the progressive left or the government. Our income does not belong to the government, it belongs to us. We obtain income from our labor and our investments. Cutting taxes isn’t a benefit, this isn’t welfare. Such a position implies that government is entitled to all of our money, which they are not.

Tax cuts are not only good for the economy, they’re good for the treasury. History has shown that every time taxes are cut, treasury revenue increases and when taxes are increased treasury revenue either decreases or stays steady. Geithner should know this and he probably does. The issue with him is that he doesn’t care, just like Obama. Raising taxes is part of Obama’s fundamental transformation of America into a socialist, European style state. This is the hope and change that Obama campaigned on. Is this the change we want four more years of?

Filed under economy, Obama, Taxes Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

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