ABC, CBS and NBC reporters over the past two days have relayed how the Obama administration proposes to cut the annual federal deficit from $1.3 trillion to $533 billion in four years by cutting spending on the war in Iraq and raising the income tax rate for those earning more than $250,000. Not considered: How since the Bush tax cuts the revenue paid by the richest -- and their share of total income taxes collected -- have been rising year-by-year. So will a tax hike, from 35 to 39.6 percent, really increase the amount the wealthiest pay, or will they find ways to avoid reporting income and thus the government will see little, if any, additional revenue -- to say nothing about the wisdom of alerting investors during an economic downturn that their tax rate will soon jump?
Monday night, CBS's Chip Reid reported: “Most of the savings would come from winding down the war in Iraq, ending the Bush tax cuts for people making over $250,000 a year and cutting spending.” Jake Tapper, also Monday night, on ABC: “Another source of revenue being proposed -- allowing the Bush tax cuts for a family earning over $250,000 a year to expire in 2011, increasing that tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent.”
On Sunday's NBC Nightly News, Chuck Todd explained how the Obama advisors plan to cut the deficit by more than half: “They believe they can do it because of two big changes: The Iraq war, winding that down, the cost of that obviously goes down; and then getting rid of those Bush tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans. That will bring in more revenue.”
For 2006, it took an Adjusted Gross Income of $153,542 to be in the to five percent of earners and an AGI or $388,806 or more to be in the top one percent.
A Tax Foundation report from last July listed revenue trends in what the IRS has collected:
Total revenue received from the top one percent:2003: $256 billion
2004: $307
2005: $368
2006: $408Share of total income taxes collected which were paid by the top one percent:
2003: 34.27%
2004: 36.89%
2005: 39.38%
2006: 39.89%
Looks like the richest are already pay more each year. Let's hope future coverage, as Obama unveils his actual budget plan, explores the topic.
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
They are missing the most
February 23, 2009 - 22:31 ET by MidAmericaThey are missing the most obvious source of new tax revenue...... require democrats to pay income tax.
the tax hikes aren't to increase revenue
February 23, 2009 - 22:33 ET by katainkentit's all about fairness
Rich won't just sit there and take higher taxes
February 23, 2009 - 22:40 ET by nkviking75These morons believe the rich will sit back passively and simply pay out more money to the government rather than make changes in their lives and their businesses to lessen their tax burdens. Higher taxes may even lead to closing factories, franchises, or whatever, throwing the "working poor" out of work. Or they may just trim staffs and try to do more with fewer people.
You can only raise taxes so far before you stop gaining revenue and start losing it.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
No freakin' kidding
February 24, 2009 - 00:19 ET by hungarianfalconMy wife and I have a fraction of that in terms of taxable income and:
1) we already were pretty diligent about monitoring our deductible expenditures
and
2) we've already knocked off ~another 5% in the MONTH that this nonsense started and we've only just begun.
Can only imagine what the wealthy with more to lose/pay are going to be doing to redistribute their wealth to avoid taxes.
For how smart these guys are, they sure are dumb.
HF
These morons believe the
February 24, 2009 - 06:57 ET by motherbeltThese morons believe the rich will sit back passively and simply pay
out more money to the government rather than make changes in their
lives and their businesses to lessen their tax burdens.
No kidding. President Clinton's team thought that increasing the tax on luxury yachts would increase revenue....then the companies stopped building yachts that no one would buy, and people lost their jobs!
From the Time article which Tim Graham posted about:
President Obama has a team of Harvard and Yale types whose SAT scores have not been equaled since perhaps the Kennedy administration.
And yet they just can't figure out the Law of Unintended Consequences.
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
Scrooge McDuck
February 24, 2009 - 09:28 ET by Hunter12I think that they think the rich have big vaults in the basement and they go down daily to jump off their diving board into the coins, gems, and bills like Scrooge McDuck. These morons don't understand that most of these people are Rich, because they have that money out there working for them. Take an additional 5% of the investment capital out of it and watch what happens to the stock market.
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
What name will this one have?
February 23, 2009 - 22:44 ET by Dont_Like_TheBluesHow are they going to spin a positive CHANGE / HOPE name for this piece of crap?
The Excess Income Reform Act ?
The Punish the Overly Successful Americans Act ?
any other ideas ?
CHANGE that I don't believe in
CHANGE that I can't believe America is putting up with.
Undistributed Profits Tax
February 23, 2009 - 22:46 ET by katainkentUndistributed Profits Tax anyone?
How about the Undeserved
February 24, 2009 - 06:58 ET by motherbeltHow about the Undeserved Profits Confiscation Act
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
the aforementioned tax act
February 24, 2009 - 15:36 ET by katainkentwas actually enacted by FDR in 1936. Proof positive they really can 'go that far'. :(
Wake the hell up, people!
February 23, 2009 - 23:00 ET by R D HelmThis move is not intended to raise government revenues, it is intended as an assault (and a possible fatal one) against the one segment of the economy that actually creates jobs.
That would be the small business sector.
Just when, exactly, are you people going to wake the hell up and realize that we are in the midst of a Marxist takeover of our government???
Shit, most of you here treat this as if it is some sort of academic exercise.
No, dammit, it is happening right under your very noses TODAY!
I am sorry, but we don't have until 2010 to stop this!
-Dave
Our clueless political leaders are about to drive us all over a cliff. The time to HITM is now-before we go over.
Dave
February 23, 2009 - 23:14 ET by thebutlerdiditAMEN! AMEN! I know this very well. It affects me daily. I am almost glad my income has dropped so dramatically. I guess I am one more member of the 1% they have knocked out. All this crap has almost destroyed my business. If it continues much longer, I will be in the death throes. I don't know if Atlas is Shrugging yet, I suspect so, but I know I am full on shrugging. Screw this. I am trying to close down everything I have, and I plan on trying to live on what little savings I have left, that hasn't been eaten in the market. Why bother? I am sick and tired of pulling my weight and the Henrietta Hughes's of the world. Is it selfish? Sorry, I am having a hard time caring.Oh, I am making 10% of the income monthly that I was from 2000-2006.
All a Democrat needs is the upper-story window of public attention and the chamber pot of rhetoric. How else to explain the rise of Joe Biden? P.J. O' Rourke
tbdi and Dave...
February 23, 2009 - 23:29 ET by bigtimerThere is seething anger going on out here...most likely spreading through out the land.
Like I have said before, I pray for all of us, I pray for this country.
Something will have to come to a head, one way or the other...only God knows what will happen, he has watched and guided this country since it's beginning.
I really feel all things happen for a reason, even though we may never know why, but He does.
tbdi,
February 23, 2009 - 23:31 ET by R D HelmGawd, I am starting to feel like Churchill in the 1930's.
I don't think people really understand how far along this hideous curve we really are as a nation.
If I see one more post here @ NB talking about what they are going to do in the voting booth in 2010, I am going to hurl chunks.
At the rate the socialists are currently progressing, and I see nothing yet even trying to slow them down at the congressional level, there will be nothing left even in 2010.
Forget 2012.
-Dave
Our clueless political leaders are about to drive us all over a cliff. The time to HITM is now-before we go over.
Dave... Well, what
February 23, 2009 - 23:41 ET by bigtimerDave...
Well, what exactly is your plan?
What do your propose is done before the next election in 10?
I am sincere here.
bt,
February 24, 2009 - 00:02 ET by R D HelmPray.
Failing that, I don't know anymore.
In a "perfect" Amurrica, we citizens would be flooding our House reps with emails, phone calls, and even snail-mail letters to put a stop to this insanity.
For some reason, it isn't happening, and judging from the most recent bailout vote, I am not sure it ever will.
It appears the celebrity-worshiping American Idol crowd, 99.99999% of which voted for Obama, have apparently won.
By the time most of the mindless doltz among us truly realize what has happened, it will have long been game-over.
Besides, Obama has all the conressional votes he needs to complete the work of his handlers.
-Dave
Our clueless political leaders are about to drive us all over a cliff. The time to HITM is now-before we go over.
Exactly Dave...exactly. I
February 24, 2009 - 00:10 ET by bigtimerExactly Dave...exactly.
I commented below here since you posted this...we are cross-posting...hehehee..
I know you are angry...and I know you know me well enough to know I am too...furious...and have posted as such, but when some of us do post about 2010, what the heck else can we do at this point of the destruction of the country..it would take masses for a huge uprise Dave...and I don't see that happening anytime soon.
People seem to wait until it is too late and are totally enslaved, one way or the other.
I think the panic attacks
February 24, 2009 - 00:13 ET by JerI think the panic attacks are a bit premature. If the voters can throw the Democrats out of Congress in 1994 despite a significantly improving economy, there's no reason to believe they won't do so again during a [very likely] stagnating economy persisting for the next couple of years.
Jer
~Dave
February 24, 2009 - 09:12 ET by choselife3xI've called every Repub Senator multiple times, I've called a bunch of the state Reps, and I've e-mailed them all. I've called the Repub governors, too. If there were a busful of people going to Washington, I'd be on it.
I think we need a couple million people to show up in Washington, each with a copy of the Constitution and Bill of Rights in one hand and a sidearm in the other. I'll do it.
In order to be pro-choice, one must first be born. Ah, the irony.
Dave... I know how you
February 23, 2009 - 23:56 ET by Clear thinkerDave...
I know how you feel. Last week I was in a fighting mood and had asked people what we could do and if maybe it wasn't time that we marched on Washington to remind the bastards that they work for us. Someone with lot's of excitement then posted back to me that there was a large march being planned for D.C. by some organizaton and we should look into it. I went to the link and started reading. When I reached the third line I crashed my head down onto my keyboard. This group is planning a march on Washington for NEXT YEAR. What the "F" do we care about next year? Hell it may be too late!
I Hate AP News Service
Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/
Ct, by next year...
February 24, 2009 - 00:29 ET by R D Helm...we will be greeting each other as "comrade."
No joke.
(And you have no idea how much I wish it really was a joke.)
-Dave
Our clueless political leaders are about to drive us all over a cliff. The time to HITM is now-before we go over.
I agree, it is frustrating. I feel like people are living
February 23, 2009 - 23:56 ET by thebutlerdiditin fantasyland. And I really can't blame them to a degree. It is awfully hard to accept that things are going to get so bad that we might not be able to fix a darn thing come 2010. Unfortunately, I believe that is the case. I am serious when I say that I have reached the end of my rope. I can't be charitable, anymore. I have had to let go a lot of people. I just want to sell this big elephantine house I live in, close all my businesses, and move back to a little house out in the country over in Alabama, and just live off of whatever it takes. If things get better at some point, then fine, but I cannot imagine what is going to improve this mess. I think we all want to be optimistic, just to get through this, but I can't, anymore.
All a Democrat needs is the upper-story window of public attention and the chamber pot of rhetoric. How else to explain the rise of Joe Biden? P.J. O' Rourke
My sentiments are the same
February 24, 2009 - 00:04 ET by bigtimerMy sentiments are the same as all here....I have posted my anger too and other places now and then.
...but like I asked Dave....what is your remedy?
Heck, we aren't going to be able to stop any of the next two years...the judges will be put on the bench by the leftists for decades to come...that is going to be a major part of the damage to this country that cannot be undone.
I don't know what else to do but hope for people to wake up by 2010 unless there is a real revolution...and I don't see that happening anytime soon, so far.
Dang it Dave...tell us your remedy?
tbdi, many business owners are going to shut down
February 24, 2009 - 00:45 ET by R D HelmAnd, seeing the confiscatory taxes that are coming their way, I cannot blame them in the least.
Funny how the socialists never consider the consequences of their actions.
Then again, when they hit the yacht builders with that killer "luxury" tax a few years back, it apparently escaped their attention that the people who actually labored to build those floating gems weren't exactly rolling in money.
The same for the people who build airplanes, particularly twins and private jets, to.
The left is so busy trying to appease its "wealth envy" constituents by "sticking" it to the "rich" guy, they have no clue of the havoc they are wreaking on the private sector.
We all pay for their wealth envy in the end.
-Dave
Our clueless political leaders are about to drive us all over a cliff. The time to HITM is now-before we go over.
I say this not to be boasting, but my hubby and I
February 24, 2009 - 02:46 ET by thebutlerdidithave been pretty successful in business. He took a hit right after his divorce,(had to relinquish 1/2 of his income), before we got married. Right around when we got married, in 2001, we were making killer bucks. We continued to do so, up until late 06, early 07. We were still doing very well, but it was a big drop. In the last year, year and a half, we have lost over 4 million dollars. Hard to wrap my head around it. Since Oct. we have lost close to 2 million in the market. I say that not to brag that we make good money, we do, but we also are self-employed, pay unreal amounts for travel, insurance, employees, etc. We also enjoy giving a good bit to charity and helping family members out. So, by our business going down, it doesn't just hurt my husband and me, it hurts all the people that benefitted from what we made. So now, why would we want to give up what little we still have saved? Especially since my hubby is 62? So, yeah, I just want to live very, very simply, and hope we can somehow get through all of this, but frankly I have no clue how that will happen. I think we can reverse a good deal of the damage done to the country still, but only if the country wakes up and realizes this give me wealth-envy culture and victim culture HAS TO END. If not, what chance has a Conservative got in winning office? The people who have this mentality will continue on this path until they are forced to see reality. What is the tipping point? I honestly don't know. I do feel like if the Socialized Medicine is allowed to take hold, we are doomed. That will be like Soc. Sec., and never overturned. So, yeah, I am crying uncle, shrugging, or whatever you want to call it.
All a Democrat needs is the upper-story window of public attention and the chamber pot of rhetoric. How else to explain the rise of Joe Biden? P.J. O' Rourke
The left is so busy trying
February 24, 2009 - 07:57 ET by motherbeltThe left is so busy trying to appease its "wealth envy" constituents
by "sticking" it to the "rich" guy, they have no clue of the havoc
they are wreaking on the private sector.
They do; they just don't care. After all, it's all about "fairness." When those folks lose their jobs, the government will "take care" of them...make sure they get to keep their homes, etc. At the expense of the achievers, of course.
However, since there is only so much the government can raise those who have little, "fairness" means taking away from those who have, or as Rush says, "equal misery" for everyone.
I didn't think it was physically possible, but this both sucks and blows. -Bart Simpson
Obama truly believes that
February 24, 2009 - 08:26 ET by ThisnThatObama truly believes that if a person makes money -- say, $250,000/year -- that he does this through unfair practices; or he cheats; or it's illegal. His next breath is always "we want to make sure that hard-working Americans get a chance" -- as though anyone making over $250,000/year isn't hard-working.!!!!
I heard his press secretary, Gibbs, on Fox News today. He was asked if $250,000 is "rich". His answer was "If you are making $250,000, then you're doing pretty well. There are people making only $40,000 that aren't doing as well". Some logic, eh? Does Obama realize that the $40,000 person may actually be the employee of the $250,000 person -- and that if Obama takes money from the "rich" that the $40,000 person is going to lose his job? Does that type of logical thinking ever even enter his mind? Or does he know this; yet he is so intent on destroying this nation that he doesn't care?
I'm not sure I want to know the answer. Both choices are absolutely unreal.
___________________________________
The challenge is to follow a consistent plan despite inconsistent prices - Sarah Palin, State of the State of Alaska speech
motherbelt,
February 26, 2009 - 00:47 ET by R D Helm"fairness" means taking away from those who have."
And once those who have no longer do, that is when the real trouble will start.
-Dave
Our clueless political leaders are about to drive us all over a cliff. The time to HITM is now-before we go over.
Dave
February 23, 2009 - 23:29 ET by MidAmericaThere's only so much us civilians can do. Hopefully Dr. Newsbusters can jolt the conservative Republican office holders back to life.
I agree with you 100%
February 24, 2009 - 06:58 ET by Worriedbut like the others ask, what can we do about it? I am so angry about what is going on. The Obama White House and Dems are doing unConstitutional and illegal stuff on a daily basis. WHO WILL STEP THEM?
Examples: Emanuel is taking the census over. UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Byron York was on Laura Ingraham saying there is something in the bill where the Inspector Attorney General, whose job it is to over see the White House, has been told to shove it. UNCONSTITUTIONAL. The healthcare stuff in the Porkulus Bill. UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
Again, WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT?
How many jobs will be lost?
February 23, 2009 - 23:45 ET by KHalpernIf borrowing and spending over a trillion dollars is supposed to create or save about 4 million jobs, how many jobs will be lost if businesses are taxed an additional trillion dollars?
The worst part of Obama's
February 24, 2009 - 02:01 ET by robert108The worst part of Obama's tax plan is that it uses the tax system to equalize outcomes, which is an incentive-killer. Of course, Karl Marx would approve that policy.
If we really want economic recovery(economic growth), we need to get govt out of the practice of using the economic system for social engineering purposes.
You don't give up, you
February 24, 2009 - 03:55 ET by SlicksterYou don't give up, you keep writing emailing and calling these elected shithead. You tell everyone who will listen, slap a bumper sticker on your car,whatever it takes you do it. I fought in two wars for this country, if I had given up or let my guard down I'd be dead now. Keep the pressure on!
Me too, Slick, me too.
February 24, 2009 - 07:09 ET by NavyBuckeyeAnd I can't take this anymore. I married a lefty. She isn't so far gone that she doesn't really see what is happening. She used to defend BHO, Reid, and Pelosi....now instead of arguing she just says she doens't want to argue about it(which is how I know she knows this is not good).
What is even more frusrating is now I live in Connecticut and have to deal with Lieberman and Dodd. At least Lieberman has a clue....Dodd just marches like a fat little Comrade inline with the others.
I hate that even with the emails, the outcry, the people speaking up in the tune of greater than 80% of the country against this stimulus (BHO Campaign Payback Fund), they still passed the fricken bill.
Now we have this little socialist weisel calling out Calhoun at UConn for his paycheck. When I finally heard the question and then heard the wiesel's little rant the local sports show let him have...it was apparent...he was a Marxist Wealth Enviest.....yet here we are...
And to thnk I put my life on the line numerous times for these fools.
“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter” - Thomas Jefferson
~What's up with
February 24, 2009 - 08:24 ET by choselife3xAll these conservative guys marrying lefty weemon? Like marriage isn't difficult enough without political differences! :-O
In order to be pro-choice, one must first be born. Ah, the irony.
When I married her....
February 24, 2009 - 12:18 ET by NavyBuckeyeI had just turned 21. I didn't really give a crap about her political views. They didn't come up much. All I cared about was that she was fun to be with, she was in college about to graduate, and had the assets worth looking at on a daily basis. I'm a pig so sue me...;o)
Now I'm older and have defined my values alot farther. Hers have also grown but in the opposite direction. Trust me it creates havoc in our political discussions. We agree to disagree for the most part. But when I tell her to stop watching the Today Show and the View....its skewed...that causes problem. I tell her to get news from other sources....but she "never has time"...
I just let her know, that I have given her warnings on the happenings of this country so when the crap hits...she better not complain.
“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter” - Thomas Jefferson
Iraq makes up less than 6% of the deficit
February 24, 2009 - 06:53 ET by WingletDriverIt's funny how they're pushing this notion that by winding down in Iraq they can save a boat load of money. We spend about $80B/yr on Iraq. Compare this with BHO's "estimate" of a $1.3T deficit and it's only 6%. This is where "most of the savings" will come from?
Before you say, "No, the savings will come from ending the tax cuts," realize that increasing revenue (which this won't do) is not saving any more than you getting a pay raise is saving. We shouldn't give into these euphemisms. This is a TAX HIKE DURING A RECESSION. This is economic suicide.
Doublespeak
February 24, 2009 - 07:30 ET by 10ksnookerThe PRAVDA media assumes everything Acting President Obama does will be an act.
Talk about cognitive dissonance!!!!
February 24, 2009 - 08:53 ET by c5thenFirst pass a spending bill that doubles the deficit in one act. ($800 billion + $400 billion in interest over the next 4 years equals $1.2 trillion) Then talk about how you are going to cut the deficit in half over the next 4 years by raising taxes and abandoning the Iraqi people and, oh yeah, cutting some budget items here and there.
Where are the media on this???!!!! Why are they not pointing out that the Iraq expenditures amount to a measly 3-4% of the deficit???!!! Budget cuts will only gain us another 5% or so, if we are lucky. That leaves at least 90% of the goal to be acheived by increased taxes on only the upper 5% of earners!!!!! That is impossible! ALL taxes will have to be doubled and the taxes on the upper 5% (250,000 or more) will have to be tripled or quadrupled for this to even have a chance on paper.
The result will be a mass exodus of the wealthy and the successfull business owners to other tax jusisdictions that will become more economical for them. Many will take their HQ operations with them. That will cause tax revenues to plunge and the deficit to balloon.
This is akin to using one credit card to pay off another. It is sheer lunacy...unless it is on purpose. This only makes sense if it is a purposfull path that is being taken to make socialism and the nationalization of whole industries palatable to the American people.
Hey, I got the wrong "CHANGE"!
Alan Keyes / Sarah Palin - 2012
It's 1984
February 24, 2009 - 12:49 ET by slickwillie2001In liberalworld, there will be no cognitive dissonance. The liberal media is already selling the idea that 'a tax cut is spending' (Stephanopopolis), so it will follow from that, that when Obammy raises taxes on individuals and corporations, he will sell it as a 'spending cut'.
With this and the 'Fairness Doctrine' and the 'Employee Free Choice Act', we are rapidly adopting '1984' liberalspeak.
Winding down the war in Iraq?
February 24, 2009 - 09:11 ET by locomotivebreath1901How many sides does a box have? Obama's 'cabinet of rivals' would probably answer 'four'.
Iraq War costs to date: $900+ billion. The 2009 est. are for $600+ bnillion more - unless Obama can make 130,000 troops disappear tomorrow.
Afghan War costs to date: $280+ billion. The 2009 est. are for $180 billion more.
That 2009 Afghan estimate was made before Obama orderd 17,000 more troops to Afganistan, and declared the war 'winnable'.
Murphy's law: everything always costs three times more than expected.
Does this guy have a money tree somewhere, or just another mouth on the other side of his face??
Bait n Switch extrordinaire, and the sycophant MSM won't fact check.
Welcome to the Obama Nation.
http://locomotivebre...
Dejavu!
February 24, 2009 - 19:56 ET by Chattychito$250,000 tax more to spread the wealth.
Well if we didn't see this coming when Joe the Plumber called Obama on it in 2008
Obama has kept his word he will spread the wealth by increasing taxes on those who make $250,000 or more. He said he would and now it is in proposa.
But instead of spreading it to the people, he is spreading it to the government a scoialistic practice if I ever seen any. He made it sound in 2008 as if his tax increase to those of incomes of $250,000 or more was to spread it amongst "the Little Guy" "I want the one's under you to prosper too"
It was all a ploy to get in as president to tax the people to pay for the debt the Democratic Party ruled congress got us into over the last 12 years. You know it wasn't all Bush's war in Iraq that increased our debt.
Brilliant! So, when are
February 24, 2009 - 19:53 ET by RR GOPBrilliant!
So, when are they going to start taking over Church property and The One starts divorcing one wife after another? I guess Biden may become the Bishop of Dingleberry.
One of the 24% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 89% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.