What if Obama does raise taxes on the rich? Then what?
I’ll admit it: There’s a part of me that wants President Obama to get every last tax increase he proposed this week.
Let him close the loopholes and raise tax rates on “millionaires and billionaires” — defined, in his world, as married couples who earn a combined $250,000 a year and individuals who bring in $200,000. Let him tax capital gains at the same rates as wages. Let him squeeze more revenue out of oil and gas companies. Let him sock it to the corporate jet owners.
And then, when the economy keeps foundering and the jobless are still out of work and the budget remains unbalanced, let him tell us what comes next.
You see, I don’t think there is a Plan B, because I don’t think his proposals amount to a Plan A for growing the economy, or creating jobs, or balancing the budget — or for anything besides raising taxes for the sake of raising taxes.
Obama’s quest to raise taxes, especially on “the rich” and corporations, has reached Ahab-like levels of obsession. The question doesn’t matter; for him, the answer is “raise taxes.” The $447 billion piece of legislation he proposed earlier this month was not so much a jobs bill as it was a tax increase-justification bill.
Obama’s already admitted more than once that he knows better than to believe infrastructure jobs involving the federal bureaucracy are truly “shovel ready.”
He may already be too late in calling for schoolhouse renovations if they’re to be completed by the end of next summer.
We’ve already seen, with the bankruptcy of the solar panel manufacturer Solyndra — in the exact month analysts predicted, and despite a half billion in federal loan guarantees — the folly of trying to shove taxpayer dollars out the door to private ventures quickly enough to count as a job-creation measure.
But none of that matters, because I don’t think that’s the point for him.
I don’t agree with those who think his intention is to destroy the economy or ruin the country. I don’t know if he believes his tax maneuvers will have an effect that’s opposite of what basic economics suggests — although I am certain he believes that a more muscular central government is in the public’s best interest.
I don’t know why he would continue to think people will put stock in super-investor Warren Buffett’s anecdote about paying a lesser share of his income in taxes than his secretary, when there are piles of data that make clear this situation is not an epidemic in our country.
I do know that we’ve known about this tax-the-rich tendency since the 2008 campaign. During one debate, Obama said he would raise capital gains taxes even if doing so resulted in less federal revenue, out of his sense of “fairness.”
I don’t know why he would feel that way. There are plenty of dime-store psychological analyses of Obama out there, if you’re into that kind of thing. I just know that one constant for the man who came to the White House as a self-proclaimed “blank screen” has been the push to tax the rich more heavily.
But ultimately, satisfying my curiosity about what Obama would do and say differently if he got his way on taxes, and proved it didn’t work, isn’t worth the collateral damage. Because here are a few other things I know:
I know the Reverse Rumpelstiltskins in Washington can’t take gold out of private hands and spin it into straw fast enough to do more good than harm.
I know that, even by the White House’s own projections, this soak-the-rich strategy won’t come close to balancing the budget — especially when it’s used to justify increasing spending even further.
I know the Obama approach — complicating the tax code even further, just to scratch this anti-rich itch — will only make it harder to reform the tax code. And that will make it harder to draft a broader strategy for reducing deficits and debt.
Finally, here’s something I can only suspect: that Obama’s answer to “what comes next?” once the millionaires and billionaires have been tapped will not be to cut spending as needed to achieve fiscal balance. Instead, it’ll be to define “millionaire” much lower than people who earn just a quarter of that amount.
(Note: This post, my column from Thursday’s print edition of the AJC, draws and expands on a few thoughts I posted earlier this week.)
– By Kyle Wingfield
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419 comments Add your comment
Bill
September 22nd, 2011
2:33 pm
Uga,
Your argument that John did not adequately educate himself is arrogant at best. Few of us are expert in anything, and none of us are expert in everything. We all need advice. When you need legal advice do you go to a lawyer? If you have a plumbing problem do you call a plumber, or do you first learn all there is to know about plumbing?
GT
September 22nd, 2011
2:33 pm
O says raise taxes on the rich and Republicans just say no to everything. We have this Hobson choice of candidates. I think if the Republicans got paid for what they did the country would be closer to a balanced budget because we would have to pay them very little. Saying no is great for teenage pregnancies and drugs but not Congress.
There is an old expression. I want you to have some skin in the game. The rich need to do something beside just check their mail every once in a while. The poor carry our burden on the battle field and then come home to no home many times. The middle class carries the cost of the country on its shoulders. Why is it too much to ask the rich to be vested in our country? If they are so smart maybe they can feel the pain and make it stop for all of us not just themselves.
KyleKyleGoAway
September 22nd, 2011
2:34 pm
@ uga 1999 @ 227pm – it may have been a black man who killed officer mcphail. Or it could have been a white woman. Or a Chinese hermaphrodite. We will never know for sure, and that’s exactly the point. What we do know is that the state of Georgia (like the great state of Texas) murdered someone late last night who it is possible was innocent of the crime for which he was killed. That can never be undone. Remember also this (in light of your glib smugness): karma can be a real bitch.
John
September 22nd, 2011
2:34 pm
UGA 1999
“Here is an idea, educate yourself and make sound decisions for yourself. ”
Does that mean we have to educate ourselves on every possible thing or should we be able to rely on the advice of others who happen to be SMEs.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
September 22nd, 2011
2:35 pm
“Why is it too much to ask the rich to be vested in our country?”
They already are. They already pay more taxes as a percentage of income than anyone else does.
Joe the Plutocrat
September 22nd, 2011
2:38 pm
ray, as I noted earlier, in order for a national sales tax to truly work (increase revenue and reduce national debt), it must be applied to EVERY transaction involving the sale/purchase of an asset; not simply durable goods or retail purchases. this would include every stock trade from 1 share to 1 million shares. every home purchase, and of course, the transfer of dividends from corporations to shareholders (seems to me the super rich would love this, as it would be reduced from 15% to 5%). but it will never happen for this very reason. the tax codes favor those who accumulate wealth, as opposed to consumers who spend earning purchasing goods and services. as noted; and national sales tax vs. income tax is moot without serious cuts in spending, including the so called “entitlement programs” which of course includes corporate welfare and DoD spending.
Tiberius - Your lightning rod of hate!
September 22nd, 2011
2:38 pm
“What we do know is that the state of Georgia (like the great state of Texas) murdered someone late last night”
Technically, murder is a crime according to the state. Execution is the state carrying out a sentence for the crime.
Therefore, your classification of an execution being a murder is just so much horse-swill.
Dearie
September 22nd, 2011
2:40 pm
Bill 12:42 pm
“I suspect that what you relatives are using for a hiring screen is probably illegal. It is certainly questionable ethically. It is called freeloading or social loafing.”
Bill – it is perfectly legal. The following is taken from an Employment Attorney website “There are no laws that require an employer to provide any employees with fringe benefits, such as vacations, sick leave, health insurance, pensions or profit-sharing plans. But if the employer does provide those benefits, they cannot be provided discriminatorily, which means that an employee cannot be denied benefits or receive lower benefits because of his or her age, disability, race, color, sex, national origin, or religion of employees.”
Discrimination is the only thing illegal, IF benefits are offered. “Free loader” is pretty harsh and unfounded.
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
2:42 pm
Kyle….9 people saw him do it. All it takes is 1! Guilty….
GT
September 22nd, 2011
2:43 pm
Tiberius – Your lightning rod of hate!
“Thy shall not kill”. Technically if you do this you go to Hell.
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
2:43 pm
John…no but we should do research and get advice from multiple sources.
Joe the Plutocrat
September 22nd, 2011
2:43 pm
UGA1999, re: Troy Davis, the system did not so much “fail” actually – it worked as designed. the execution of Troy Davis merely exposed the system as flawed and lopsided. as has been noted by others, self included, on other blogs; how can a man who admits to murdering a judge, court reporter, sherrif’s deputy and an off duty federal agent get life in prison, while another man, convicted on the dubious, recanted testimony of 7 of 9 witnesses, in a case where no murder weapon was ever found, be put to death? no sir, whether or not Troy Davis is gulity is not the question. the question is more about the civility and ethics of a system (judicial) in which lying under oath is an open secret.
HDB
September 22nd, 2011
2:45 pm
Tiberius – Your lightning rod of hate!
September 22nd, 2011
2:13 pm
“Now, what you missed was Fannie and Freddie buying all those sub-prime loans and selling them to investment firms, thereby flooding the market with bad paper. You missed the CRA which began, however slowly, the changing of the way banks were allowed to view risky investments. You missed a burgeoning national debt and deficit out of control. And the dozens of other reasons too numerous to detail here that all go together to affect a national and world economy.”
You’re off a bit….let me expound:
1) Mortgages backed by Fannie and Freddie had LOWER default rates than those created by mortgage BROKERS! Fannie and Freddie were caught in a situation that required government assistance. Note the number of bank failures during the Bush years…particularly here in GEORGIA!!
2) The CRA’s primary requirement was that banks make loans in the COMMUNITIES THAT THEY SERVED…particularly minority communities! The baks’ reaction to this: close branches is predominately minority neighborhoods! Prime example: BofA closed a branch that served Stewart-Lakewood for YEARS! The CRA did NOT make lendingf institutions change their lending/credit REQUIREMENTS! Because banks were already making money off of those who were credit-worthy, they went (for lack of a better term) “bottom-feeding” to see what profits they could get….thereby, the “subprime” market!! When AIG insured the preponderance of mortgage-backed securities…and the real estate market declined, banks started calling in their insurance options…and AIG couldn’t cover!!
Note tax cuts during WARTIME cut revenue that was needed to run the WAR…so the US borrowed from China….first time that taxes weren’t RAISED to cover the war effort!!
The S&L Scandal of the 80s with Charles Keating and Neil Bush as an unindicted co-conspirator was the precursor of what we went through with TARP…..to set the record (from wikipedia):
In the 1980s, Keating ran American Continental Corporation and the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, and took advantage of loosened restrictions on banking investments. His enterprises began to suffer financial problems and were investigated by federal regulators. His association with, and financial contributions to, five U.S. senators to argue for preferential treatment from the regulators led to them being dubbed the Keating Five. When Lincoln failed in 1989, it cost the federal government over $3 billion and about 23,000 customers were left with worthless bonds. In the early 1990s, Keating was convicted in both federal and state courts of many counts of fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy. He served four and a half years in prison before those convictions were overturned in 1996. In 1999, he pleaded guilty to a more limited set of wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud counts, and was sentenced to the time he had already served.
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
2:45 pm
GT….yep Mr Davis is pretty hot right now I am sure.
KyleKyleGoAway
September 22nd, 2011
2:47 pm
@Tiberius @238pm – I suspect you’d feel differently if it was you they strapped to the gurney. Then again, you may be too blinded by your self-professed hate.
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
2:47 pm
Joe….although crimes may be similar the punishment is not always the same. You have to take into account the situation and mental capacity of the offender. I do agree that Mr. Nichols should be right beside Mr. Davis right now with a tag on his toe.
Joe the Plutocrat
September 22nd, 2011
2:48 pm
UGA1999, hope you didn’t attend UGA law school. 9 people “testified” that Davis was the shooter (and 7 of the 9 have since recanted). when we establish a system which can guarantee people will not lie in court; we can execute convicted criminals. the very fact that 7 or 9 witnesses have said they lied (or are lying about lying) suggests the system is flawed. the death penalty is a political tool, not a punitive tool.
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
2:49 pm
Kyle….sorry brother I never have killed a cop!
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
2:51 pm
Joe…..#1 that was 20 years ago. They could possibly have some unassured confidence now about the event. The fact is that during the trial they said they SAW Troy Davis do it. What about the other 2. Still plenty of evidence to convict and sentence to death. Slam Dunk.
Those other 7 should now be charged with perjury.
HDB
September 22nd, 2011
2:53 pm
Joe the Plutocrat
September 22nd, 2011
2:32 pm
“The National Homeownership Strategy began in 1994 …”
Actually…the Ownership Society was a REAGAN idea….beginning with workers OWNING the means of production..then progressing to home ownership! Clinton and Bush EXPANDED on a Reagan idea!
KyleKyleGoAway
September 22nd, 2011
2:53 pm
@uga1999 @249pm – I assure you you and I are anything but ‘brothers’. We don’t even belong to the same subset of humanity.
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
2:55 pm
Kyle…..thank God! I dont believe that killing those to protect and serve us is worth rallies and applause.
Joe the Plutocrat
September 22nd, 2011
2:56 pm
UGA1999, then it is the “truth” as opposed to the outcome of a trial that “justifies” capital punishment in your mind? as I have said, I’d feel better if the executed the 7 witnesses who now say they lied, before executing Troy Davis. and c’mon, one of the witnesses is the alleged shooter. at the very least, the state should execute him as well, as he was there, he merely ratted out Davis ’cause the cops got to him first.
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
2:59 pm
Joe…..and the other witness?
HDB
September 22nd, 2011
3:02 pm
Joe the Plutocrat
September 22nd, 2011
2:43 pm
RE: Troy Davis: Wholeheartedly AGREE!!
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
2:51 pm
When the prepondrance of the evidence raises doubt (note 7 out of 9 recanted), and a person is executed under that cloud of doubt, it raises concern about the entire system!! Also note that eyewitness testimony is NOT the most reliable!!
Be it also known that the Supreme Court set such a HIGH standard (proof of innocence rather than the PRESUMPTION of innocence…even if convicted) on Davis re-examination that such a burden couldn’t have been met!!
If mistakes WERE made….they CAN’T be corrected now!!!
Get Real
September 22nd, 2011
3:03 pm
Liberals are so lost so I won’t waste my breath or effort typing except to say that even Clinton understands that when and if the taxe increase occurs it will do nothing to the deficit as we still have runaway spending….enjoy Obama while you can..tick.tick.tick till Nov 2012
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
3:04 pm
HDB….they had 20 years to correct the mistakes. There werent any.
Joe the Plutocrat
September 22nd, 2011
3:05 pm
UGA1999, again, I am not speaking of my personal views on capital punishment or the state’s right to execute criminals. in this instance the evidence was weak – especially the testimony of another habitual criminal who placed himself at the scene. the only difference between Davis and “Red” what’s his name is the fact that “Red” said Davis did it when the cops got to him (until he said, “I did it” later on). but either way; if he lied on the stand, or he lied in bragging about it after Davis was convicted; he seems to be a less than credible witness. and as I said, if Brian Nichols is alive, we should suspend all executions.
KyleKyleGoAway
September 22nd, 2011
3:08 pm
@uga1999 @255pm – [sic]. You may want to reread your last sentence. Also, might I suggest reading comprehension lessons and a private college on your next go-round?
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
3:08 pm
Joe…the evidence was not weak. 9 witnesses and proof that he had shot someone earlier that night with the same gun? Weak? NO WAY>.
GT
September 22nd, 2011
3:09 pm
UGA 1999, I don’t know about Davis didn’t see him do it. What do you think the executioner is going to say when St. Peter asks about his “murder”? You think he is any less guilty than Davis and if he killed an innocent man he is guiltier. If Davis is guilty he probably thought he had some right to kill too. I was black, he was white, he was out to get me. Everybody on death row had an excuse. Of course I am just an old liberal who has no knowledge of the Bible and certainly wouldn’t want to tell a far right his way around the Bible.
Joe the Plutocrat
September 22nd, 2011
3:10 pm
and of course, now that Troy Davis is dead, all off-duty police officers working security jobs are safe, and all Georgians can expect a significant decrease in the number gun-related crimes. executing Tory Davis proves nothing and it accomplished nothing as far as “justice” is concerned. from traffic court to death penalty cases, the prosecution and defendants LIE ALL THE TIME.
daxxed
September 22nd, 2011
3:11 pm
Funny, no one is mentioning that Carter started the Sub Prime Loan Program, Clinton, tweaked it allowing anyone with a pulse to get a home loan, while ACORN enforced it.
During GW term many times regulations was attempted only to be quashed by the Dembicels saying how great a job the current administration was doing at the helm of Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae.
Go back and do your research folks, check out the You Tube videos of the Dembicels defending the administration of Freddy Mac and Fannie Mae.
Don’t leave out the fact that Clinton was the reason the bubble burst, just before leaving office he went after Microsoft, followed with SEC changes which eliminated small IPO’s, after which capital investors pulled money back and the Tech Bubble burst, Dropping the Tech sector by 30% that initial month.
Then right after GW came in we had 911, why did Clinton not capture Osama when he was offered up by Syria, oh he was too busy hiding cigars.
One other thing, what happened to the transparency that was promised us, did anyone see any CSPAN coverage of Boama, were the earmarks removed like promised, no back room deals were cut so the Dembicels could save BO from looking like a fool, never mind that the majority of Americans were against it or that the majority of Congress really had no clue what was in it.
Did the Stupidus Bill create millions of jobs and keep unemployment below 8%…
Proof is in the pudding, or the inability of a community organizer to run a company much less a country.
One Bad A#$ Mistake America, and now we have a new opportunity to take back this country before BO destroys it and contiues his path to the Socialist States of America.
Here are more facts.
What is going to happen to unemployment once the tax cuts end for small business…More lay offs. Do you really think a business owner is going to eat it, no it will be passed on.
What are employees and employers going to do in October when it is time to make changes for group insurance…The reality of Obama care will hit…wait and see…
With Obama care what incentive is there for a new college student to become a specialty type of doctor…How are all the vacancies by the current departing medical professionals going to be replaced…From India…From China…but not from US..
What about the Nuclear treaty, Russia can pull out at any time, but Obama stated that we are not going to build any new or more modern nukes while every other country will. Our military can just clean out the cob webs and hope our aging missiles will fire.
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
3:11 pm
GT….Technically speaking murder has a MUCH different meaning than executioner.
Do you think our beloved soldiers are murderers?
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
3:12 pm
Joe….one less mouth we have to feed.
Joe the Plutocrat
September 22nd, 2011
3:13 pm
UGA1999, if 7 of 9 have recanted, it most certainly is weak. show me some DNA, Davis’s fingerprints on the murder weapon, a surveilance camera tape. human beings lie (especially when their a** is on the line). commute his sentence or re-try him, but don’t execute him.
Warning to Non-Profits
September 22nd, 2011
3:15 pm
Dear Non-Profits organizations, my wife and I currently donate a significant number of dollars to you. Should Obama get his tax increases on us we will reduce our charitable giving to cover our ‘revenue loss’. Also, local retailers should be warned we will spend less money, so those of you working retail also be warned, you might lose your job since we won’t be buying as much which will in turn affect your employers ability to pay you… there’s more but I think you get the point. My savings and retirement plans are not going to be what I cut, it will be ‘discretionary spending’.
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
3:15 pm
Joe. they didnt recant during the trial. Again they should be charged with Perjury. Why would the witnesses have lied back then? He killed a cop…..execute.
a dad
September 22nd, 2011
3:16 pm
Umm, how did this blog turn from financial shenanigans to the Troy Davis saga? No way the two are related. ‘KW, lots of name calling going on today. GUess that old saying “a hurt dog hollers loudest” has some truth to it.
Fair tax. Consumption tax (if there’s no income tax, wouldn’t there be more $$$ in people’s pockets to spend?) And looking at people shopping, spending everything they have and more seems to be the way to go these days. After all, it’s how our gov’t operates, right?
Back on track now y’all. Don’t make ole dad come down there….
HDB
September 22nd, 2011
3:16 pm
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
3:04 pm
“HDB….they had 20 years to correct the mistakes. There werent any.”
You can’t be that certain! No DNA evidence, inaccurate forensics, recanted witnesses……
Compare what happened in Texas with what happened here…..and the difference speaks volumes!! As someone said: If it smells fishy……
Joe the Plutocrat
September 22nd, 2011
3:18 pm
UGA1999, OK, now we’re getting somewhere (3:19). if it’s about overcrowded prisons, or the fact that taxpayers pay the tabs for criminals; then let’s have THAT conversation. do you hear yourself? the idea that we should execute criminals to save money actually makes sense on some really, really base level (think abortion); but again, we get back to the question of “reasonable doubt”). heck the way the system works now, they might as well just hold a lottery once a year, and if you are a convicted murderer; you get executed.
KyleKyleGoAway
September 22nd, 2011
3:18 pm
@ uga 1999 @ 311pm – yes, some of our beloved (and I DO mean that with all respect and sincerity) are in fact murderers. My Lai, Mr. Humanity?
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
3:18 pm
He had GWR on his hand. Witnesses from the previous shooting that night as well as the cop killing. Case closed. Sleep well.
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
3:20 pm
KyleKyle……WOW….I have no other words than WOW! God bless your sick soul.
Freeloaders need to put skin in the game
September 22nd, 2011
3:21 pm
The folks, who are getting the free stuff, don’t like the folks who are paying for the free stuff, because the folks who are paying for the free stuff can no longer afford to pay for both the free stuff and their own stuff. The folks who are paying for the free stuff want the free stuff to stop, and the folks who are getting the free stuff want even more free stuff on top of the free stuff they are already getting! Now… The people who are forcing the people who pay for the free stuff have told the people who are RECEIVING the free stuff, that the people who are PAYING for the free stuff, are being mean, prejudiced, and racist. So… The people who are GETTING the free stuff have been convinced they need to hate the people who are paying for the free stuff by the people who are forcing some people to pay for their free stuff, and giving them the free stuff in the first place. We have let the free stuff giving go on for so long that there are now more people getting free stuff than paying for the free stuff.
Some voters have figured out they could vote themselves money from the treasury by electing people who promised to give them money from the treasury in exchange for electing them. The number of people now getting free stuff outnumbers the people paying for the free stuff. We have one chance to change that, in 2012.
GT
September 22nd, 2011
3:21 pm
Thy shall not kill UGA 1999. If it is good enough for the far right to stop abortions and call that murder when “technically” it is not, then it should be good enough for an executioner to stop what he is doing too. Soldiers, I think they have their own hell on earth, that executioner went home last night and had dinner, slept in his own bed, probably took Davis’ cheeseburger he didn’t eat as his last meal. Ms. UGA what does your son do for a living? “He kills people, we are so proud of him”. Right….
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
3:22 pm
For the record…..I believe that execution should be reserved for crimes so severe that the criminal shouldnt be allowed to live. Also there should be such a load of evidence to do away with all doubt. Both were there in this case.
UGA 1999
September 22nd, 2011
3:23 pm
GT… First of all it is Thall not Thy! Really abortion? Ok, what cop did the innocent baby kill?
a dad
September 22nd, 2011
3:25 pm
Folks, Troy Davis is dead. Nothing you say or argue wil change that fact. This blog is about raising taxes on the rich. Back on subject now???
GT, if you’ve ever watched an abortion of a later term fetus, you may change your mind. I wouldn’t wish that sight on anyone though.
KyleKyleGoAway
September 22nd, 2011
3:25 pm
@uga1999 @320pm – it would appear as if you need to bone up on your knowledge of US history, too.