Obama to Raise Taxes?
I thought President Obama would wait at least until his third year in office to raise taxes. Well, I was wrong. He’s not even waiting until his third month in office to propose hiking those “fees” the government takes from us:
President Obama is putting the finishing touches on an ambitious first budget that seeks to cut the federal deficit in half over the next four years, primarily by raising taxes on business and the wealthy and by slashing spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, administration officials said.
Raising taxes on business? That’s a great way to encourage them to expand and bring on more employees, you know something that might help during economic hard times.
Well, we currently have “the second-highest combined federal-state corporate tax rate among industrialized countries.” Maybe the president just wants America to be Number One.
UPDATE:Â Via Glenn, a suggestion on how to get the economy moving again:
The economic forecasts are gloomy despite the hastily passed stimulus package; and we haven’t seen what new regulations are hidden in the stimulus package. I doubt that anyone has read the entire bill even yet.
The best way out of this mess is the German Economic Miracle way: suspend regulations. All regulations. Make it easy to start new companies. Let ingenuity work to allocate capital.
And if taxes on ingenuity aren’t so high, it could do its work better.
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This is a foolproof plan. Why hasn’t it been proposed before? Oh,… it has? Never mind then.
Comment by Chris — February 22, 2009 @ 12:19 pm - February 22, 2009
Well he certainly doesn’t want us to be number one superpower, he is doing everything in his power to knock the US down a couple of notches.
I always thought that the president of the US should be it’s number one fan and supporter, I guess not if you’re a lefty. : (
Comment by Leah — February 22, 2009 @ 12:34 pm - February 22, 2009
this is actually exactly what he campaigned on. he’s talking about letting the bush tax cuts expire in 2011 so the highest marginal rate increases from 35% to 39.x percent.
Comment by bob (aka boob) — February 22, 2009 @ 12:49 pm - February 22, 2009
#2 – “Maybe the president just wants America to be Number One.”
If not, then we should go Number Two on him.
“I always thought that the president of the US should be its number one fan and supporter, I guess not if you’re a lefty.”
Leah, didn’t you get the memo? If it is good for the libtards, it’s bad for America. And vice versa.
Besides, all libtards hate for America to be the best in the world; it conflicts with their belief that we are to blame for everything wrong with every other country. The only way they can bring themselves to love America is to reduce our standing in the world.
Regards,
Peter H.
Comment by Peter Hughes — February 22, 2009 @ 1:18 pm - February 22, 2009
and returning the capital gains taxes to 20%, the same level as during the clinton years, which we all know was a time characterized by severe economic depression. those high “ingenuity” taxes absolutely stifled the growth of the tech industry.
Comment by Chad — February 22, 2009 @ 1:19 pm - February 22, 2009
this (sic) is actually exactly what he campaigned on.
He was wrong then. He’s wrong now. And we didn’t vote for him. We are allowed to criticize his economic stupidity.
Comment by V the K — February 22, 2009 @ 1:20 pm - February 22, 2009
i’m not saying you shouldn’t criticize him, v the k. go back and read the first two sentences of the post, and you’ll understand my comment better.
Comment by bob (aka boob) — February 22, 2009 @ 1:23 pm - February 22, 2009
Um, Chad, I’ll need to check the record on the Clinton years (can’t right now, working on something else, but I’m pretty sure that together with the Republican Congress, Clinton cut capital gains taxes, so the rate was actually lower than it had been in the George H.W. Bush years.
Comment by GayPatriotWest — February 22, 2009 @ 1:39 pm - February 22, 2009
here’s the record: http://www.ctj.org/pdf/regcg.pdf
i’m not going to do the work of analyzing the record for you. that’s your responsibility, since you are making the argument that a lower capital gains tax spurs economic growth. it is sufficient for me to note that the data does not support that argument.
i’m interested to know your views on the record.
[Thanks, Chad, for calling that up. The chart confirms my point. I did remember things correctly. From 1993-96, the capital gains tax stood at 28%. From 1997-2000, it was 20%. So, it seems lowering the rate seems to have furthered economic growth. Dan]
Comment by Chad — February 22, 2009 @ 2:20 pm - February 22, 2009
This is true, problem is that they thought that it would only effect those evil Republicans. Problem is even our snobby elites are feeling the pain of the economic downturn.
Suddenly the messiah isn’t looking so good any more – must all be Bush’s fault. (right Bob????)
Comment by Leah — February 22, 2009 @ 2:25 pm - February 22, 2009
i think you’re arguing in bad faith. in order to plausibly look at that data and state conclusively that lower capital gains tax leads to economic growth is if you assume (i) that the tech boom started in 1997 (which isn’t true; conventional wisdom states that it began in 1994-1995); and (ii) that the tech bubble didn’t burst in 2000 (which it did). you would also have to ignore the fact that the lowest capital gains tax rates in the past 80 years under bush 2 have corresponded with the current economic recession.
at times, there does appear to be a correspondance between lower capital gains taxes and economic growth. but, at best, the data considered in total suggests that the capital gains tax rate has a negligible and unpredictable impact on economic growth.
Comment by Chad — February 22, 2009 @ 2:50 pm - February 22, 2009
it’s “affect”, leah, not “effect”.
your argument is even worse than your spelling, fyi.
Comment by bob (aka boob) — February 22, 2009 @ 2:51 pm - February 22, 2009
Obama wants to perpetuate the crisis that he and his policies~~ have already created.
It has happened before: It was called The Great Depression. Two tax-raising big spenders, Hoover and Roosevelt together, jacked up the highest tax bracket in a series of steps to 90% and made it impossible for business people to go to the bathroom without asking Washington’s permission… and, in the process, the two of them turned an ordinary recession into a 13-year crisis of 15%+ unemployment rates that could only be ended by a World War.
(~~And yes, Obama and his policies created this crisis. The present crisis has been caused by years of excessive spending and debt, including the “progressive” lending policies of the real estate bubble / subprime mortgage crisis. As Senator since 2004, Obama raised not a peep of protest against those things. As Presidential candidate, Obama staffed his campaign with the very people from Fannie and Freddie who created the crisis and personally profited to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. As President, Obama has (1) done nothing to investigate and punish those people, making them return their ill-gotten gains; (2) **redoubled** America’s deficit spending and debt creation. Now he proposes to rein in just the tiniest part of that… not by ending the ripoffs of the American people… but by further increasing, i.e., raising taxes to punishing levels.)
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — February 22, 2009 @ 2:52 pm - February 22, 2009
(i.e.,further increasing the ripoffs on the American people)
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — February 22, 2009 @ 2:54 pm - February 22, 2009
As for bob: You’re such an idiot. Here are “the first two sentences” of the post that you referred to:
Why did GPW think it? Because, as you admit, Obama campaigned on the idea of only raising taxes passively, by letting the Bush tax cuts expire in 2011. Why does GPW man up and admit he was wrong to think it? *Because the news here – “news” meaning “what’s new” – is that Obama wants to raise some taxes sooner and more aggressively than that*. Or as GPW put it:
How is Obama already going to increase taxes now, in addition to letting the Bush tax cuts expire? Again, according to The Washington Post, Obama:
Is that waiting until 2011? No. Further, according to the Post:
Can anyone honestly say for one second that Obama campaigned on that? Did Obama say in the debates, for example, “We need to increase government’s share of the economy”? Hell no.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — February 22, 2009 @ 3:14 pm - February 22, 2009
What we need is more economic activity so, on schedule, the lefties propose taxing the very thing we need more of.
The one thing evil, putrid, stinking-rich bastards can do in the face of punitive economic policy is choose not to participate. So when jet-riding, tax-evading congresscritters decide to punish some company for buying a Citation X, we can all feel good when some metalworker in Wichita loses his job as a result.
Economic justice indeed.
When a self-governing people confer upon their government the power to take from some and give to others, the process will not stop until the last bone of the last taxpayer is picked bare. – Kershner’s First Law
Comment by SoCalRobert — February 22, 2009 @ 4:10 pm - February 22, 2009
oh, ILC. always pushing the envelope on stupidity.
Comment by bob (aka boob) — February 22, 2009 @ 4:54 pm - February 22, 2009
We know you are bob, but we’re trying to educate you.
Comment by The Livewire — February 22, 2009 @ 5:02 pm - February 22, 2009
So, how many of you make over a 1/4 million a year? Anyone? Anyone?
The President’s plan gives working class families the biggest tax cuts in history. Period. That means you, my friends will directly benefit. And, as some 2/3 of the US economy is consumer spending, the increased demand for goods and services boosts the overall ecponmic health. You’d be hard pressed to find a credible economist that disagrees in principle with the stimulus and tax plan.
Wake up kids, that crap about tax cuts and dregulation and trickle down have all been proven wrong. That’s all, it’
is nothing but bullspucky the Republican party sold you. You gotta stop drinking the KoolAid.
Comment by PeeJ — February 22, 2009 @ 6:08 pm - February 22, 2009
Anyone else see the irony in the tax cheat Obama, who supports and endorses proven tax cheats like Geithner, Solis, Rangel, Caroline Kennedy, and Daschle, saying that businesses always cheat on their taxes?
Projection is the main psychological thought process of the Obama Party.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — February 22, 2009 @ 6:13 pm - February 22, 2009
PeeJ, let me explain this to you in the way even an Obamabot like you might be able to understand.
You and your fellow Obama Party members want to hand out welfare checks to Americans of $10, which you then fund by increasing taxes on businesses and corporations by $12.
Since corporations and businesses now have increased expenses of $12, they have to raise their prices by $12 to stay at the same level that they were before. You may have $10 more to spend, but the price of goods you are buying has gone up by $12 due to the increased cost.
If you want to see what handing out welfare checks and punishing “the rich” and businesses does, go to Europe; it results in sclerotic economies, low growth, rampant unemployment, and extensive dissent among people who are shut out of the job market because companies are so heavily taxed that they can’t afford more workers.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — February 22, 2009 @ 6:21 pm - February 22, 2009
So how many of you are employed by a poor man? Anyone? Anyone?
What the hell is “ecponmic” health? Just thought I’d beat Boob to it.
I found over 200:
http://www.openmarket.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/final_cato_stimulusad_wpost.pdf
http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2008/jan/13/opinion/chi-0113edit2jan13
Would you mind pointing out how each of these aren’t “credible”? You’ll note James Buchanan is on there. He’s got a Nobel Prize. Liberals believe EVERYBODY with a Nobel Prize.
So California, New York, Michigan, New Jersey etc. are economic paradises that everybody rushes to? Can you explain to me how states with no state tax fair better than those who do?
Finally, can you explain to me how trickle up poverty benefits us?
I look forward to your reply to each and every point.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — February 22, 2009 @ 8:10 pm - February 22, 2009
Also, could you please explain how punative taxes encourage businesses to keep jobs here in America? And how does raising taxes encourage international investors to open businesses here?
Comment by ThatGayConservative — February 22, 2009 @ 9:22 pm - February 22, 2009
Anyone? Anyone?
Any day now, PissJ.
Comment by ThatGayConservative — February 23, 2009 @ 5:51 am - February 23, 2009
Just wait and see what happens to industries and utilities when, on top of the new highest-in-the-industrialized world tax rate, Chairman Zero adds his $300 Billion cap-and-trade scheme.
But then again, maybe you won’t be affected by it unless you work in manufacturing, use electricity, or buy products that were transported by truck.
Comment by V the K — February 23, 2009 @ 7:07 am - February 23, 2009
#25. In Ohio, the only industry hiring is healthcare/health insurance.
President Obama’s assault on Medicare Advantage will fix that.
“What? Private insurance pays faster, better, with less fraud than the government? We can’t have that!”
Comment by The Livewire — February 23, 2009 @ 8:45 am - February 23, 2009
The one item that hasn´t been mentioned for reducing the deficit is ending foreign aid. Over the years we have sending money overseas an it has profited us nothing, only criticism at the least or hatred. Oil rich countries have benefited from our generosity. We can´t even count on their support in the General Assembly of the U.N. Among those who have benefitted the past year,
Egypt, 2 billion dollars and they voted against us in the U.N. 79%
Jordan, 192.8 million dollars and voted against us 71%
Pakistan, 67 million dollars and voted against us 75%
India, 143.7 million dollars and voted against us 81%.
Even Kuwaite is on the list of recipients.
Ireland has the lowest corporate tax rate in the world and has prospered because of it. Obama should consider reducing our corporate
rate to be on par with or below that of Ireland. It could help reduce the deficit and an unemployment. It could end outsourcing by American companies. Also, Obama should consider resurrecting enterprise zones. It would encourage entrpreneurship by giving additional incentives for manufacturers and service providers to locate in the inner cities to reduce unemployment, especially among the minorites. Foreign companies would see it as advantageous to move the bulk of their business to the U.S. It is prefereable to have foreign capital investing in the private sector rather than buy our debt.
Comment by Roberto — February 23, 2009 @ 4:17 pm - February 23, 2009
Roberto, sorry but that’s all too rational for the brave new world.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — February 24, 2009 @ 1:54 am - February 24, 2009
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