The stock market is casting a vote of "no confidence" in Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and his Republican opponent is missing an opportunity to slam the freshman senator for an economic agenda that is a rehash of the worst of Presidents Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter.
So argued on-air editor Charles Gasparino in an October 13 op-ed in the New York Post, where the CNBC talent mentioned that even Obama's Wall Street backers are nervously telling him to change course on his economic plans (emphases mine):
Overall, his [Obama's] plan includes some of the most lethal tax increases imaginable, including a jump in the capital-gains rate. He'd expand government spending massively, with everything from new public-works projects to increases in foreign aid to a surge in Afghanistan - plus hand out a token $500 welfare check that he calls a tax cut to everyone else.
This is clearly the wrong way to go in the wake of an economic meltdown - yet Obama, for all his talk of how willing he is to compromise, of how he'd bring people together, is sticking to his tax guns.
I know at least one top Wall Street executive, an Obama supporter from the start of his campaign, who has recently urged Obama to rethink his tax plan - and that was before last week's record losses on the Dow.
Story Continues Below Ad ↓But if Obama is rethinking, he's not saying. As his running mate, Joe Biden tells us that it's patriotic to pay higher taxes, Obama remains committed to squeezing businesses even if the recession grows.
Gasparino also noted that "[t]o be fair, McCain hardly instills confidence among the Wall Streeters" he talks to but wondered why the campaign was putting more energy into the William Ayers angle "when it should be hitting Obama's blind loyalty to policies that bring together the worst elements of Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter."
Last week Gasparino slammed the Obama tax plan, likening it to "throwing gasoline on the fire":
"I mean, John McCain – listen, say what you want about his performance – but I’m talking, just looking at that debate rationally – could you literally add up – he wanted to invade Pakistan I thought he said, he wants a surge in Afghanistan, he wants expanded health care, he wants to give a tax break to anybody under – not a tax break, essentially a welfare check to anybody who makes $249,000 or less. By the way, it’s not a tax cut because poor people don’t pay income taxes. You’re not changing the tax rates. And then he wants to tax everybody else."
Gasparino said that despite Obama’s “thin record,” he is much more of an ideologue than McCain, based on his time as a community activist, state senator and in the U.S. Senate.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters





















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Comments Policy
OT - when libs eat their own
October 13, 2008 - 15:04 ET by RackieI found this reaction regarding BHO's preceived shift to the middle after his nomination.
"It's so obvious that the Times is shilling for the GOP and their masters ... the very narrow monied elite who have been playing the American people and chipping away at the controls which would diminish their control on the purse strings of America!
We are looking down the rabbit hole Alice!"
Obama Just Doesn't Get It
October 13, 2008 - 15:34 ET by mizflame98Obama released his new economic plan. It contains more spending and still no answer as to how he's going to get that money. He also rolled out the Pelosi Stimulus package. The most pathetic part was he was encouraging people to dip into their retirement funds up to 10,000 bucks without facing any penalties. I guess you can't be taken care of by the government from cradle to grave so long as you have a retirement plan to fall back on.
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/13/obama-unveils-economic-proposals-mccain-vows-fight-main-street/
“Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula? I mean, they’re charging a lot of money for this stuff.”
B.H. Obama
Withdraw money from your
October 13, 2008 - 15:35 ET by play21cwWithdraw money from your IRA or 401k penalty free..
But he is still going to charge regular taxes on that money. THATS A PENALTY! And if he raises capital gains taxes then thats going to put even more of a penalty.
Everytime it seems like he is trying to do something to help the situation he has a policy or tax that will counter act it, but in a hidden way, hidden in that the MSM or the campaign dont mention that part.
Culture of Dependancy
October 13, 2008 - 16:54 ET by Copperhead Ridge"I guess you can't be taken care of by the government from cradle to grave so long as you have a retirement plan to fall back on."
That's what Obama and the left wants. The thought of anyone being self-sufficient scares the hell out of them. I actually had a lefty tell me that he thought the government should seize 401(k) assets and distribute them among all retirees. He said that it was unfair that some people have such large retirement accounts. Can you imagine? The truth is that they have these accounts but no one controls what they do with those assets. Gasp! They might even be able to pass the money to their children.
When I asked why he thought that, he said that it wasn't fair. That sort of fits in with Obama's view on taxation. He knows that it will hurt the economy, but he wants things to be fair.
Listen to his discussion with the plumber this weekend. That sums Barack Obama up pretty well.
The next financial crisis will be the failure of state retirement accounts and the Social Security insurance funds, which are nothing but a bunch of IOU's written by Congress. When that one hits, those of us who have been disciplined with our retirement savings will be punished. Lefties like the one I spoke with will push to seize our retirement accounts.
I know that Kentucky's public employee retirement is a shaky house of cards. Our General Assembly keeps patching it, but they never really fix it because it is a ponzi scheme that keeps state workers dependent upon one another. Republicans keep warning that it needs an overhaul, even proposing to give workers the option of having private accounts, but the Democrats like it the way it is.
They love the power.
»→ Plumber?
October 13, 2008 - 16:58 ET by Cool ArrowObama's plumber is some guy name of Sinclair, isn't he?
Underdog & Pitbull 08
I've always said the way
October 13, 2008 - 17:16 ET by Hunter12I've always said the way to fix social security is to eliminate FERS and let all the federal employees get their retirement payments from the same place the average worker does. If Congress was tapping their own retirement account, they'd be less likely to raid it.
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
Guess How Obama will pay for this extra spending...
October 13, 2008 - 19:52 ET by mizflame98I was watching FOX News Major Garrett was talking about how Obama will pay for all this extra spending he is proposing. The answer is (DRUMROLL PLEASE)... He's not going to pay for it. It will just put us into debt. His philosophy it's better for the government to spend the money now than wait until things get worse.
Please explain to me again why Obama is ahead in the polls. He has slammed McCain for being like Bush and has accused Bush of having a failed economic plan that put us into debt. Then he casually slides into a statement with M. Garrett that he's doing the exact same thing. Increasing our debt. I guess we should be fine with it, eh?
“Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula? I mean, they’re charging a lot of money for this stuff.”
B.H. Obama
Complete the scenario over time.
October 13, 2008 - 15:13 ET by c5thenWhat will be the result if we keep raising the tax rate on the companies and individuals who actually hire the employees? Won't they stop hiring because they need to use that $$ to pay the extra tax?
So then the unemployment rate goes up and the government needs more $$ to pay the unemployed, but the revenues are dropping because the businesses are contracting not growing. So the government has to raise the tax rate on those busienesses and individuals again. And the economy just gets worse. Eventually if you take this philosophy to the extreme, everybody will be working for the government who will then dole out supplies and services as it sees fit. That is called Communism.
Karl Marx must be laughing up a storm in his grave.
This of course is if you
October 13, 2008 - 15:58 ET by SnappyThis of course is if you follow the logic that companies pay taxes. It is a simple fact that they dont... You and I pay their taxes through higher prices on whatever product they make. If the market will not bear the added cost to cover their increased taxes you can guarantee they will just move operations somewhere else where they can drop the price to something people will pay and still make their profit. Then its not a matter of just not hiring more people.. its a massive layoff as they move operations to India.
Businesses pay taxes
October 13, 2008 - 16:46 ET by c5then90% of all businesses in this country are small. Most of them 70%- 80% are sole propieterships and not LLC or incorporated. This is especially true for small family farms too.That means that as far as the tax code is concerned, Revenue equals taxable income minus the typical credits and deductions.
Check out XOM's income statement . Notice that they paid $10.5 billion in taxes last quarter out of $22.5 billion in operating income. That is a 46.6% tax rate. How many struggling small businesses can afford to pay that rate?
What if you are a small proprietership that nets $300,000 in annual operating income and have 3 employees? I guarantee that if your taxes go up by 10% you will have no choice but to fire one of those employees.
Hello c5
October 13, 2008 - 16:59 ET by cocodrieI am a small propriertorship. My son and I have no employees for the exact reason you state. What is unimportant to large companies is sometimes deadly for small ones. Most people do not realize that a small companies' finances and the family finances are one and the same.
Which is exactly why the
October 13, 2008 - 20:16 ET by SnappyWhich is exactly why the $250,000 number is so important. Your business will not be able to make up the excess to cover the taxes. So my argument, "businesses do not pay taxes" holds. If you can not make your profit and still pay the taxes you are not going to stay in business now are you? If you are not big enough to pick up operations and move them offshore you will simply close down.
I know this firsthand as
October 14, 2008 - 03:06 ET by BlackwaterI know this firsthand as well. I work with my father in his company and we had to bring down our working force to a skeleton crew while hiring subcontractors for bigger jobs. The costs to cover all the insurance on employees, especially contracting is horrendus! Especially here in NYC
All these money types, who
October 13, 2008 - 15:16 ET by Chris NormanAll these money types, who think that Obama is really a moderate and cautious consensus builder and that they can control the economic policies of his presidency remind me of the lady riding on the tiger...
McNotObama '08
If only John McCain would
October 13, 2008 - 15:16 ET by dscottIf only John McCain would listen! This guy is giving him all the ammunition he needs to win, but what does McCain do? I guess we will see on Wednesday if McCain takes advice or just offers more Democrat lite. Personally, it's getting painful to watch the debates. There is only so many missed opportunities one can tolerate before getting fed up with dissappointing substitute of a Repub.
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.
It's kind of hard to
October 13, 2008 - 15:27 ET by Chris NormanIt's kind of hard to quickly explain the term "tin eared", but I think if one says, "It means "John McCain", that would be fairly succinct and accurate.
McNotObama '08
Obama does not care about
October 13, 2008 - 15:30 ET by Clear thinkerObama does not care about these issues, but he has to find ways to impress his followers. Obama is counting on a more direct approach to win in Nov. I call it threats. Like this statement from a liberal poster on my blog...“If Obama loses, we won’t cry. We’ll let our voices be known. New York will burn.”
Why Obama Scares The Crap Out Of Me
Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/
CT,Michael
October 13, 2008 - 15:49 ET by Chris NormanCT,
Michael Barrone wrote a great column today (link from Drudge) called "The Coming Liberal Thugocracy". He does an excellent job recounting many of the incidents of storm trooper-like actions from Obama's supporters. One that he missed was one of the creepiest - when Obama offered to send "thousands" of his supporters to "help" in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav - like they were his own private army to command - which many of them well might be - they're so fanatic.
McNotObama '08
Details, details. None
October 13, 2008 - 15:42 ET by mattmDetails, details.
None of this matters to the O-voters. They're are voting for an image, not a man, not an ideology, not a plan.
"Just words, just speeches." - BHO
Gasparino on Obama policies.
October 13, 2008 - 15:48 ET by paulejbpaulejb
Oh well, I guess gasparino will just have to be killed. After all we can't put up with lese majesty. Off with his head. All hail the mighty Obama!
DOW UP 938!!!!
October 13, 2008 - 16:11 ET by TheSterwOOt!!!
I DON'T HOW OR WHY!!!
wOOt!!!
Ster.
Ster, the banks being bought up by you! AKA 0.7 Trillion bail-
October 13, 2008 - 16:19 ET by upcountrywaterout, your government at work!
CLIMATE CRISIS
IranianUranium
UCW...I just want ONE day...
October 13, 2008 - 16:31 ET by TheSterI know it's all BULL...just give me this ONE day???
ONE DAY of good news??? There will probably be a sell off tomorrow...
Paul Krugman, The Economic Nobel Prize winner, will proclaim he does not like good economic news because it might get McCain elected...
...AND THE MARKETS WILL CRASH AGAIN!!!
I just want ONE Day...
Ster.
ok ok Ster, PARTY like there is no tomorrow!!
October 13, 2008 - 16:45 ET by upcountrywateryea just maybe, they didn't spend it ALL in one day!!
See i can be an optimist, for a day..
Queen for a day, the BANKS !!! applause meter is a 10!!!
CLIMATE CRISIS
IranianUranium
»→ Party on Ster
October 13, 2008 - 16:55 ET by Cool ArrowRather than get greedy, I pulled out at a meager 12.25% gain today.
Back in black while my coworkers "stay the course" and are still behind 14% for the year.
Whoever coined "in it for the long haul" is clouded by laziness and rationalization.
Underdog & Pitbull 08
Cool, UCW...Do You Want To Play A Game???
October 13, 2008 - 17:11 ET by TheSterNo...NOT Thermal Nuclear War....
Let's see which MSM Kook gives Obama ALL the credit for the biggest one day gain on the DOW...
WHY?? His Economic Speech he gave earlier today...of course!!!
The front page of http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ has an interesting photo of the Messiah raising his hand, and a photo of the DOW chart rising...Hmmmmm. 4:04pm cst
Ster.
»→ I'm hip Broderick
October 13, 2008 - 17:16 ET by Cool ArrowI was watching the speech and the ticker simultaneously.
Was mildly surprised he suggested an idea I tossed out a couple of weeks ago about penalty-free 401k withdrawals. Count on that one to go through quickly.
Fast-tracking auto industry loans (and providing more, if necessary) is a lose, considering Toyota doesn't need no stinking bailout.
Look for the Big 3 to gobble up the loans to keep business open and ignore the earmark for hybrid development. Bad bet.
Underdog & Pitbull 08
Is not Obama blind loyalty, but Obama Manifesto
October 13, 2008 - 16:18 ET by Lame CherryObama's policy is something liberals had better come to terms with as it is Trotskyite Marxism as I explained long ago, a policy of perpetual revolution to destroy individual rights for the advancement of the elite.
This is a manifesto designed like all communist dogma to enslave people by taking all their money and then rationing it out by the government. Obama did this to Hillary Clinton in campaign funds. Are you getting that point liberals how Obama treated your candidate is how he is going to screw over all of you.
Obama said today he was going to transfer wealth around. That is stealing it from rich David Letterman and giving it to poor people who will vote for Obama and all his ilk.
I will inform Nancy Pelosi in the same Bolshevik scat she pulled on trying to install thug Murtha is the same thing Obama will employ on you Nance when he gains enough provisional authority.
Maxine Waters in 2012 could very well be Speaker of the House with whatever Obama thug is appointed out of Illinois will displace Harry Reid.
Michael Barone noted this in his Thugocracy of Obama. You liberal Democrats who think you are running the show pulling your Cindy Sheehan garbage are going to have it pulled back on you.
Remember Bill Clinton in his blackmail. Obama is going to unleash his chanting brown shirts on each of you.
Go ahead Nancy and call the FBI. You will find out like all the people being stalked by Obamaniacs that they were ignored.
You liberals know I'm telling the facts here. You always eat your own and Obama is going to eat each and every one of you as his revolution wipes you away and he starts handpicking your replacements in the House and Senate, and moves on to your individual states.
These Islamocommunists dumped over a quarter of a billion dollars into the Obama campaign to change the top. Obama is going to siphon off money to selectively eliminate Bob Casey and Nancy Pelosi.
How about this new election law Ms. Pelosi:
messiah Obama directs that San Francisco must have a gay representative and not a woman.
How about this law Mrs. Clinton:
As New York City has a populace of minorities the Senators from New York must be Black and from Puerto Rican.....
and as you horses look in on the Animal Farm house of Obama, you will notice those mandates will have added, gay Marxists and minority Marxist candidates only.
So you liberals who are not getting through to Obama ,but his policy is getting through to you in how nuts it is for America.......just remember it is Stalin Obama's manifesto. He fully intends to take your liberal money, take your liberal children and draft them and replace all of you liberals with 3rd world Marxists he is importing.
Enjoy your revolution which you thought was change as you idiots are being led to your own slaughter by a Judas Goat Marxist.
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
His economic "surge" won't work----
October 13, 2008 - 16:36 ET by Roscoe MendagoBarack had to be drug kicking and screaming to admit the surge in Iraq worked but that admission is always qualified with a big "BUT". Ya see Barack simply says, "but I never would have gone into Iraq in the 1st place", how convenient, what hind sight. It seems to me Barack has a tough time admitting he may be wrong
OK, he has trouble with the obvious success concerning a military surge, there's his views on the economy that also have gaps. When he is told revenue to the treasury has increased with the capital gains tax cut he acts as if he didn't hear what was said and states he just wants things to be fair, for whom, certainly not the tax payer. I believe he doesn't know what the "capital gains tax" is.
How many things has this guy "revised"? His thinking on the economy is in constant flux, he's adding on stuff as I type. If there are people out there who have confidence in this schmuck we're doomed.
Obama's Tax and Spend Plan
October 13, 2008 - 16:38 ET by LostSoulHere is part of Obama's tax plan ina a response to a question asked by a plumber.
From CBS News' Maria Gavrilovic:
(TOLEDO, OHIO) - Barack Obama went canvassing today in a middle class neighborhood in Holland shortly after arriving here for a two days of debate prep. Accompanied by local campaign aides and volunteers, he spent almost an hour knocking on doors and talking to voters.
Crowds gathered on Shrewsbury Street as word got out that Obama was in the neighborhood.
“I’m moved to tears. This is amazing,” one young teacher said after she spoke to the Democratic nominee.
As he made his way down the street, Obama was barraged by questions about the economy, mortgages, and taxes. This was perhaps the best kind of debate prep for him, because not all of the conversations were easygoing. One man in particular questioned Obama’s tax plan, telling him that he is about to buy a company that makes more than $250,000 a year.
“Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn’t it?” the man asked.
Obama responded by telling the voter that his business would get a 50% tax credit for health care, but that his taxes will go up from 36% to 39%.
“I want to give all these folks who are bus drivers, teachers, auto workers who make less, I want to give them a tax cut,” Obama explained.
The man wasn’t convinced, telling Obama that he has been a plumber for 15 years and doesn’t believe that he should be taxed more.
After explaining that the tax rate would be the same as under Bill Clinton and that 95% of Americans make less than $250,000, Obama made one last pitch to the voter.
“I’m gonna cut taxes a little bit more for the folks who are most in need and for the 5% of the folks who are doing very well - even though they’ve been working hard and I appreciate that – I just want to make sure they’re paying a little bit more in order to pay for those other tax cuts,” Obama said.
“It’s not that I want to punish your success – I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you – that they’ve got a chance at success too.”
As Obama left, he told the crowd, “I’ve gotta go prepare for this debate, but that was pretty good practice right there!”
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/10/12/politics/fromtheroad/entry4516350.shtml
Here is part of his spending plan.
$920 Billion More to Bail Out the World
With one socialist “bailout” bill apparently on the way to passage by Congress, two more are pending―both of them sponsored by Senator Barack Obama. One is the Jubilee Act, which would cancel as much as $75 billion worth of Third World debt, and the other is the Global Poverty Act, which would cost an estimated $845 billion. Total potential cost: $920 billion.
The rest of his grand idea for spending is here.
http://www.aim.org/aim-column/920-billion-more-to-bail-out-the-world/
Good Luck
October 13, 2008 - 16:52 ET by szampGood luck in transferring all the tax burden to an even smaller group of people/companies and keeping them in business and from moving away from this country.
It's natural that companies and people move to where they can afford more. That's why people decide to move here illegaly. The way things are going, they are going to move back in a hurry.
With all the regulation and taxation they want to implement, all those making $250K plus will just move away or give up.
Oh I see...
October 13, 2008 - 20:14 ET by dcullingOh, I see, it's all just part of his brilliant re-immigration plan; just kill the economy and all the illegals and quite a few legals, run back home lol. Brilliant! All hail the sublime benefits of Obamanomics.
The MSM is touting the
October 13, 2008 - 17:21 ET by Hunter12The MSM is touting the people who caused the crisis as the people to fix it and the party that tried to regualte the biggest root causes of the collapse as the ones to blame. People are just stupid enough to beleive it, too. "Tom Brokaw says Barack has a plan to fix the economy. He must be the man." Meanwhile, Obama spends the $130,000 he took from Fannie and Freddie to promote himself as the saviour.
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Sir Winston Churchill
You folks want to know the
October 13, 2008 - 19:12 ET by ckc1227You folks want to know the scary part? He's most likely going to be even more liberal than he says he's going to be.
Obama's Economic plan: more taxes, more spending, more regulation. Prosperity here we come.
ckc... Everything about
October 13, 2008 - 19:20 ET by Clear thinkerckc...
Everything about Obama is scary. Case in point: Why Obama Scares The Crap Out Of Me
Making Fun of AGW http://giovanniworld.wordpress.com/
I think it's...
October 13, 2008 - 20:27 ET by dcullingI think it's pretty clear that Obama intends to crash the economy. We all know Bush will get the blame. Only with a crisis can you get citizens to willingly give up their freedoms. Isn't that how all tyrannical forms of government get started?
I wonder if we will all have matching uniforms to wear to the sham Constitutional Convention? I suspect brown shirts for most of us, but, oh yeah, the Camp Obama graduates will surely have very stylish black ones.
This is clearly the wrong
October 13, 2008 - 20:38 ET by TN MomThis is clearly the wrong way to go in the wake of an economic meltdown - yet Obama, for all his talk of how willing he is to compromise, of how he'd bring people together, is sticking to his tax guns.
Now you see what happens when they nominate someone with so little experience! Obama doesn't have a clue how to fix the economy. Doesn't have a clue how to compromise. I find no record of obama ever 'bringing people together'; well, except for those ACORN folks.
WE'RE SCREWED '08