Obama To Boehner: Tax Hikes On Wealthy Or Bush Tax Cuts Expire

[notacon]

I have no problem with that but it doesn't make a dent. if people think that 250k is rich then go ahead. Tax small businesses. i don't look at prices anyway

Oh Jesus....are you still dishing out GOP talking points??

The "small business" crap is really ridiculous. "Small business" definition is widely abused. The most common definition is a business with less than 500 employees. They are NOT hit with the proposed increase since they pay corporate taxes and not personal taxes. Big sports starts, media starts, Hollywood celebrities are all considered "small business". This misuse of the term is an attempt to have people think of that true small business that runs the neighborhood store. These people have a minuscule chance of having enough taxable income to be hit, at all, with the proposed increase. A simple canard, that is both dishonest and misleading.

Additionally, $250k IS "rich". First, this $250k level is referring to TAXABLE income. The fact is that Obama's plan is to allow the two top marginal tax rates to go back to their 2000 level. Talking just about married compiles filing jointly, that means their TAXABLE income OVER $217,250 rate go up from 33% to 36%. On the top marginal rate, a married couple filing jointly, their taxable income over $388,350 rate go from 35% to 39.6%

For a married couple filing jointly to have $217k in taxable income, their actual income is well over $300k. That puts them in the top 2% or earners. By definition, when you are in the top 2% of earners, you are "rich".

Additionally, the bulk of the tax increase will really come from the top .01%, which means millions in income. If there is an increase in capital gains rates, as there should be, we are talking probably close to $100 billion per year.

I believe that this is an underestimate.

The greater increase in tax revenue will come from increased economic activity. I also believe that we will (and should) see an increase in energy taxes.

Clinton's tax increases were also predicted to "not make a dent" in the deficit....but, they turned out to put the federal budget in surplus.

In any event, since the amount supposedly to raised, why are the Republicans fighting so hard against it? Why did the Republicans mock the 47% of population that do not pay federal income taxes as "lazy takers that do not want to take responsibility for their lives"??

Is that not a call for widespread tax increases for the lowest earners, while having steadfast opposition to adding a few percentage points to the richest?

Isn't this immoral?

[MidnightVoice]

And even Henry Ford understood this

[YardRat]

This is going to be interesting to see who blinks, or 'compromises'. Both sides are going to continue to point the finger at the other guy, and the Repubs are the only ones with something to lose if some kind of agreement isn't reached. I wonder just how 'not married' Obama is to what parts of his plan?

[Gilly]

Have the dependocrats ever met a new tax they didn't like??

[YardRat]

This is going to be interesting to see who blinks, or 'compromises'. Both sides are going to continue to point the finger at the other guy, and the Repubs aren't the only ones with something to lose if some kind of agreement isn't reached. I wonder just how 'not married' Obama is to what parts of his plan?

****. I meant to say aren't, not are.

[DraftBoy]

****. I meant to say aren't, not are.

I actually think its better for both parties to just let the cuts fully expire. Short term you'll have idiots like Hannity and Daily Kos calling out either side for failing to extend the cuts but for the long term economy I think letting the cuts expire and giving the government more revenue in addition to spending cuts is going to be a good thing.

[YardRat]

I actually think its better for both parties to just let the cuts fully expire. Short term you'll have idiots like Hannity and Daily Kos calling out either side for failing to extend the cuts but for the long term economy I think letting the cuts expire and giving the government more revenue in addition to spending cuts is going to be a good thing.

It might be a good thing from a deficit standpoint, but IMO it certainly isn't going to help the economy at all.

[DraftBoy]

It might be a good thing from a deficit standpoint, but IMO it certainly isn't going to help the economy at all.

I disagree.

[DraftBoy]

http://www.sfgate.com/business/botto...ff-4026284.php

Seriously, why not just jump off the fiscal cliff?
It would do wonders for the deficit, reducing it by at least $500 billion in the first year alone. Yes, we'd probably be back in a recession, with a 9.1 percent unemployment rate, but it would be mild, temporary, and we'd be back on our feet in no time, says the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.

$500 Billion in deficit reduction, slightly reduced GDP of 0.5, and unemployment below 6% by 2018. Its time to stop being short sighted and selfish. End the cuts, let the economy repair itself and let's get through the next 18 months and let that small light at the end of the tunnel get bigger.

[YardRat]

http://www.sfgate.com/business/botto...ff-4026284.php



$500 Billion in deficit reduction, slightly reduced GDP of 0.5, and unemployment below 6% by 2018. Its time to stop being short sighted and selfish. End the cuts, let the economy repair itself and let's get through the next 18 months and let that small light at the end of the tunnel get bigger.

Eliminating the Bush-era tax cuts, including those on the middle class, and proceeding with the automatic reductions in spending would reduce the gross domestic product by a mere 0.5 percent in the early part of 2013, combined with "renewed growth at a modest pace later in the year," the CBO stated in a report released last week. By 2014 "the labor market will strengthen, returning output to its potential level and shrinking the unemployment rate to 5.5 percent by 2018," it added.

I'd like to see a little bit more detail on how this conclusion was reached.

Warren Buffett or Bill Gates,who support higher taxes on the wealthy.


The more I see comments like this, the bigger kick I get out of them. If Buffett and Gates want to pay more taxes, they certainly are able to do so...as far as I know, there isn't anybody holding a gun to their accountant's heads, forcing them to include all the deductions they are eligible for when they do their taxes.

[notacon]

Deficit reduction does not help the economy.

[MidnightVoice]

I actually think its better for both parties to just let the cuts fully expire. Short term you'll have idiots like Hannity and Daily Kos calling out either side for failing to extend the cuts but for the long term economy I think letting the cuts expire and giving the government more revenue in addition to spending cuts is going to be a good thing.

Let them expire, then put forward tax cuts for everyone earning less than $250K. Then let the "cut taxes" Republicans say no!

[NOT THE DUDE...]

Yeah baby!! Has he actually grown a pair???

Political capital bitches!!!!

This ain't gonna look good for the republicans if they allow peoples taxes to go up. Congress's approval rating is already in the cellar at 15%.

LMAO

[jdaltroy5]

Have they got business ownership up to 99%? How does that 46-47% slough off and own businesses at the same time?

Because Republicans aren't very good at math.