Obama: With so many suffering, billionaires and millionaires shouldn’t whine
Good for Obama.
In a sometimes painful townhall session broadcast live on CNBC, the president took questions from Americans concerned about the economy and their own futures. The fear and anguish of at least a couple of questioners was palpable, and for the most part Obama didn’t try to sugarcoat what they and the country face.
At one point, however, a hedge fund manager stepped to the microphone to complain on behalf of Wall Street that the financial community was tired of being treated like a pinata. In his response, Obama pointed out that last year, the top 25 hedge fund managers earned an average of a billion dollars apiece. A billion bucks apiece. And he also suggested that a bit of perspective might be in order.
“Now, you know, I have been amused over the last couple years, this sense of somehow me beating up on Wall Street. I think most folks on Main Street feel like they got beat up on. I’ll be honest with you. There’s probably — there’s a big chunk of the country that thinks that I have been too soft on Wall Street. That’s probably the majority, not the minority…. It’s a two-way street. If you’re making a billion dollars a year after a very bad financial crisis where 8 million people lost their jobs and small businesses can’t get loans, then you shouldn’t feel put upon.”
At that point, the CNBC moderator jumped in to note that in the cover story in Forbes magazine, Obama is described as having an “anti-colonial attitude” toward business and that Steve Schwarzman, a prominent hedge-fund manager, had likened Obama’s proposed tax treatment of hedge-fund earnings as “a war … it’s like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939.”
Obama responded by pointing out that the hedge fund manager and his colleagues are paying a tax rate of 15 percent on what they earn, which is a considerably lower rate than their secretaries have to pay.
“The notion that somehow, me saying ‘Maybe you should be taxed more like your secretary, when you’re pulling home a billion dollars or a hundred million a year,’ I don’t think is me being extremist or anti-business,” Obama said. (See video excerpts below.)
Obama was also asked about ending the Bush tax cuts for those making $250,000 or more a year.
“What the Republicans are proposing … that we provide tax relief primarily to millionaires and billionaires,” he said. “It would cost us $700 billion to do it — on average millionaires would get a check of $100,000…. It is an irresponsible thing for us to do.”
“Here’s what I can’t do. I can’t give tax cuts to the top 2 percent of Americans — 86 percent of that money going people making $1 million or more — and lower the deficit at the same time. I don’t have the math. I’d love to do it. Anybody in elected office would love nothing more than to give everybody tax cuts — not cut services, make sure that I’m providing help to student loans, make sure that we’re keeping our roads safe and our bridges safe, make sure that we’re paying for our veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. At some point, the numbers just don’t work….”
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323 comments Add your comment
Normal
September 21st, 2010
7:41 am
I was going to say I see all of the “I hate Obama and everything he stands for” people were out early, but I see Rightwing Troll beat me to it. Good job, Troll!
Anyway, I guess I’ll just say Good Tuesday morning all y’all!
The Best Part of Waking Up
September 21st, 2010
7:42 am
What would a conservative Republican be without his whine? Quiet and on the wagon.
Cauldron Bubble
September 21st, 2010
7:42 am
Hitler invaded Poland? I thought he bombed Pearl Harbor.
Yes, Wall Street is right. Hitler was a fiend. Wall Street has inspired the vast right wingnut conspiracy to compare Obama to Hitler, Christ, a Voodoo priest, and an illegal alien. Hey, Wingnuts, pick an effigy and stick with it.
After Obama swore to change the entrenched lobby-override of our course-correcting legislative safeguards against the rich’s reckless plurality, (our congress voted against the bailout, you know), a boil of teed-off sleeper-covens rose up to foil our Christian electorate.
The smartest thing any witch ever did was to make voters believe Obama wasn’t a Christian. Who woulda thunk there were so many witches and warlocks in America?
Proof? Doesn’t every Glenn Beck meme begin with some variation of “Double Double Toil and Trouble”. Think about it.
Time to make a clean sweep. Vote Democrat. Don’t let the Dunn and Bradstreets rummy-up our E Pluribus Unum.
stands for decibels
September 21st, 2010
7:42 am
oh and RW, you were right, earlier.
Gov. Moonbrown was running on a flat-tax platform in ‘92, not ‘88.
Normal
September 21st, 2010
7:43 am
I’m voting and supporting ideas and concepts that protect the middle class.
Good bumper sticker stuff!
Jack
September 21st, 2010
7:44 am
There’s justified resentment among those that make more than $250K per year and know that liberals want them to subsidize the 47% of households that pay no tax. I brown-bag every workday, I drive a 2002 used van, I buy store brands without using food stamps, I don’t smoke or drink nor buy lotto, I inherited no money and I report more than $250K per year in income and I pay an effective tax rate of over 20%. I resent paying taxes that will benefit those make less of an effort than I.
stands for decibels
September 21st, 2010
7:45 am
the 47% of households that pay no tax.
not this crap again.
Jay, smarter trolls, please.
The Best Part of Waking Up
September 21st, 2010
7:50 am
You would hope that anyone pulling in $250,000 per year would at least understand taxes. Yet, some insist on continuing to spew that ignorance about the 47%.
Normal
September 21st, 2010
7:50 am
Jack
September 21st, 2010
7:44 am
Jack,
I’d agree with you if everybody was on the same level playing field, but there are people out there, through no lack of effort, who haven’t been able to aquire the “American Dream”. Education is the key, but stripping most of the funding from public education is not a level playing field. I applaud your effort and luck, but until you and yours untie the the hands that would make the field level, you need to make sacrifices for the good of the people.
jumping Turtle
September 21st, 2010
7:51 am
support your ideas ideas and concepts in one hand,
poop in the other.
See how many birds you can kill with one stoned democrat.
Soames
September 21st, 2010
8:00 am
Where are all of those created/saved jobs? That’s what everyone wants to know…these little sideshows are just a distraction.
The “100 Recovery Act Projects That Are Changing America” report sure was an eye opener. $7.5B spent to create 27,400 jobs. We’ve lost a net 2.5M jobs since the Recovery Act was passed. That’s why everyone is upset, this was just a softball session for the promotion of Democrats failed stimulus attempts.
Tax increases for ALL are inevitable but don’t expect Retards or Dummy’s to say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done…
We’re all lemmings in the end right?
Normal
September 21st, 2010
8:04 am
Soames
September 21st, 2010
8:00 am
Y’all realize it’s not the Democrats laying off people, don’t you.
If you feel the need to blame instead of help, at least blame the ones responsible…Corporations!
Jack
September 21st, 2010
8:05 am
Youu first, Normal. Then I’ll make my sacrifice.
Carlosgvv
September 21st, 2010
8:11 am
It is amusing to hear conservatives rail against poor people getting entitlements when so many of the rich think it is their right to become as obsenely wealthy as possible regardless of how many others get trampled under them. These wealthy ones have a lot of conservative stooges who will say whatever they are told to.
Normal
September 21st, 2010
8:22 am
Jack,
I already am…
FinnMcCool
September 21st, 2010
8:22 am
Carlosvv,
To continue your point, it’s sad that a good deal of that wealth is made on the backs of poor people and people they aren’t willing to pay a living wage to.
To hell with them…as long as they’re at work on time!
Nice Guy
September 21st, 2010
8:41 am
Carlosgy @ 8:11 “so many of the rich think it is their right to become as obsenely wealthy as possible ”
Carlos, what happened in your life to make you envy those that have more than you? Do you truly beleive that people get rich by “trampling” those that are poor? You are misguided and its a shame that people like you just don’t seem to get it. Pitiful.
Gammer
September 21st, 2010
9:44 am
You all must be ‘exhausted’.
Soames
September 21st, 2010
12:18 pm
Normal @ 8:04
The President made a lot of promises that have not been kept so far regarding unemployment and job creation. I’m just calling it like it is. And I though “small business” created all of the jobs?
As far as help is concerned, I have 32 people on my payroll and I’m doing the best I can to keep all 32 employed. I tell my people that we are all in this together and we’re going to tough it out and come out stronger than we were before. I’ve made sacrifices of my own to help 32 employees and their families put food on the table.
As a Nation, we are all in this together, regardless of who’s kool-aid or tea you’re drinking. If you can’t see the failures of the current Administration then you are wearing blinders. We must hold our elected officials accountable regardless of their party affiliation…but you can keep on being a partisan hack. I didn’t make the promises…Obama did.
Normal
September 21st, 2010
12:32 pm
Soames,
All I’m saying is that the President does not have the power to make business’s hire. He can create jobs like FDR did with CCC, but there would not be a Republican willing to help him, so his hands remain tied.
What would you have him do?
Normal too
September 21st, 2010
5:51 pm
Normal, What should the President do… Good question.
1. He needs to stop spending money that belongs to your and my kids. We are effectively bankrupt as a country, we have a problem of too much debt and spending that will not be cured by more debt and spending. It does not work on a personal level – it will not work on a national level. Cut the budget…
2. He can provide some stability. No business person in their right mind will hire employees in an enviromnment where taxes may go up massively, health care costs may go up massively, regulations and laws may change radically, unions may get massive new powers, etc. There is too much uncertainly now so there will be no real hiring. WIth no hiring there will be low growth in the economy, high unemployment, and poor futures for all of us – especially the poor and minorities. Back off of the socialist spending spree…
3. He can stop picking on business – government just consumes wealth and perhaps manages to redistribute some. Net, it destroys wealth, the bigger it gets the more it destroys. The pie is only so big, as government consumes more – there is less left for those who create wealth. He should cut the capital gains tax and the dividend tax to 0%… This is working in many of the fastest growing countries on the planet. It will work here too.
If we don’t get back to the basic concepts that made this country great, we will fall… Just today, Bloomberg reported that the US has fallen from 1st place to 4th in the world as a desirable place to invest. Financial transactions are moving to foreign markets where taxes are lower. Manufacturing is moving to countries where regulations are less onerous, unions are not bullies, and taxes are lower. Oil rigs are leaving our country to assist other countries in providing energy for their growing industry and to produce wealth for their citizens… because of our President’s decrees.
We are spending money that we don’t have as we clamp down on the very people who can actually creat wealth. We could not do a better job of destroying this country if we were trying…
Baylink
September 21st, 2010
9:35 pm
Or, as the CBO notes, we could just *let the stupid frickin tax cuts expire completely*, and balance the budget in 5 years, *even* with the wars we shouldn’t be in going on and enriching KBR and Halliburton.
And, amazingly, according to a Pew poll last Monday, 27% of Americans — nearly tied with the Republican and Democratic party plans — *advocate doing exactly that*. Even without a party to tell them how to think.
Amazing.
Perhaps there’s hope for the grownups to take over the country.
Guess we’ll find out on 10/30
two cents worth
September 24th, 2010
3:07 pm
the tax rate on the upper bracket is 35%, not 15%……..the 15% stated is a complete falsehood……..