Do any of you make over $250,000 a year in taxable income? And, if you do, would you mind paying a modest 4-5% additional tax on all the money you make in addition to that first quarter million so that people won’t have their retirement security slashed or their food stamps cut off or their unemployment insurance terminated?
You see, if you make a quarter million dollars a year in taxable income, you are one of the very few people in this country who might legitimately have tax reasons for voting for Mitt Romney. But you don’t really want all the struggling people in this country to have their benefits reduced, their safety net slashed, and their educational opportunities denied just so you can pay a slightly lower tax rate than you did under George W. Bush, do you?
And, I’ll tell you what. If you’re concerned that your taxes will just go to fighting wars in the Middle East and to interest payments on the debt, why don’t you join us in opposing foreign and energy policies that lead to war in the Middle East and help us make sure that we address our debt problem is a fair and sensible way that puts ideology aside and focuses on spreading out the pain while making sure that we don’t stall the economic recovery?
Can we make that deal?
K-thug just posted about this topic on his blog. And don’t ever read the comments on Yahoo if they ever put up an article about taxes. The stupid is very strong there.
Of course it’s a helpful reminder to the +$250 gang that the additional tax will just start applying on your $250,001…same goes for small business that would be impacted, they would still be able to enjoy the lower than Clinton rate on that first $250,000.
I doubt the Grover lemings will be satisfied until we have a Company Store set up nor will the war crowd be satisfied until we equal N Korea in cutting social programs and going all out for supporting the military.
Course N Korea’s rockets fizzle, wonder if that’s cause the workers can’t afford to buy shoes and have to crawl to work?
Didn’t you come out against any and all dealmaking less than a week ago?
Can’t we put our Monty Hall hats on?
I think the standard answer now is that the President, knowing there won’t be any deals made with the GOP congress, is only offering a deal so that everyone will see how reasonable he is. And then everyone’s taxes will go up, and they’ll blame the GOP. In theory.
I hope you are right. I think at the end, Obama will be faced with the choice of being blamed for the expiration of Middle class cuts and extending them all. He will capitulate and extend them all.
I don’t understand why, instead of calling for extension of part of the “Bush tax cuts”, he didn’t make minor fiddles with the structure (i.e. 14 0r 16 % instead of 15%, or changing the break points slightly) and present them as all new permanent “Obama Tax Cuts” and just ignore the Bush cuts. Then the GOP would be in the position of rejecting tax cuts. Unless he just really wants extension of all the Bush tax cuts paving the way for the Simpson-Bowles benefit cuts AFTER the election.
On righty radio this morning, one of the radio people said that she didn’t want her money going to poor people.
What a kind woman.
I don’t want my money going to rich people, but I have no choice in the matter.
on all the money you make in addition to that first quarter million
I am absurdly grateful to you for writing it that way.
Let’s look at how Julia Pace and Kassie Hunt of the AP phrase it:
…tax cut extensions for all families earning less than $250,000 but denying them to households making more than that…a one-year extension for those making less than $250,000…The president has long supported ending the Bush-era tax cuts for those making more than $250,000…
Actually, those earning over $250,000 are getting tax-cut extensions, too, under the President’s plan. They’re getting their tax cuts extended on the first quarter million dollars they earn, which is a rather enormous amount of income, even for most of the high-income earners in this country. For somebody earning $262,000, their tax increase is tiny. For someone earning $6.3 million, it’s not. Both, however, are getting the Bush tax cuts extended on their first quarter mil in income.
“Do any of you make over $250,000 a year in taxable income? And, if you do, would you mind paying a modest 4-5% additional tax on all the money you make in addition to that first quarter million so that people won’t have their retirement security slashed or their food stamps cut off or their unemployment insurance terminated?
“Can we make that deal?”
You’re kidding, right?
This is just a rhetorical question, surely.
When asked what to do about people with no insurance, these are the folks who answered, “Let them die.”
I’m sorry, but I’m hurt and disappointed that you would lump me in with all those others who insist that $$$ shows the will of God.
I don’t believe in God.
It shows the will of Kali.
Heathen.
I’m certainly not in the top 2%, but I wouldn’t mind at all returning to the Clinton-era tax rates.
So if ALL the Bush tax cuts expire, fine by me.
Whatever minor financial inconvenience I suffer will be more than made up by the wailing and whining of GOP fatcats, which is music to my ears.
Not to mention the increased revenue and all that could be done with it. Remember 2000? When we wondered what the government could do with all that surplus? It seems like a dream now.
I support you! All the money are going for war expenses.
That’s the main question. Since the Republicans nor the media will never frame it that way themselves, and since Democrats who do are socialists, I suspect many likely Romney voters simply refuse or are unable to believe that such a calculation is being made. Incredible but true.
“Simply refused to believe.” So, it would seem the tax argument is perhaps not as potent as democratic supporters would like to believe, simply because many likely Romney voters just can’t believe that the plan of the republicans is to pay for tax cuts for the 1% simply by crushing spending on public services like police, health, schools, fire fighting, social security, etc.
Unfortunately, none of us are in a position to make your deal. It doesn’t matter that a large majority of Americans agree that the wealthy should pay more in taxes. It wouldn’t even matter if the majority of wealthy people supported it. What matters is what the big dollar donors believe. Republicans will not let Obama’s plan out of the House. Republican Senators will filibuster it, if it ever gets to them. And they’ll be aided by Blue Dog Democrats who already fret about increasing any taxes on the mere million-dollar-a-year earner.
Democrats have a trump card in that the Bush tax cuts automatically expire in total unless a deal is made. But Republicans have to believe that the Democrats will use it. Until Democrats start publicly stating that they’re willing to let the law expire on schedule, no one will even consider it a possibility.
My guess is that Republicans don’t have to make any concessions at all.