In last week’s State of the Union address President Obama bragged about stimulating the economy without raising income taxes “a single dime.” Technically, this was probably an accurate statement, but it was awfully misleading when you consider this report from Blomberg.com (emphasis added):
The Obama administration wants to increase taxes on Americans earning more than $200,000 by almost $970 billion over the next decade and take in an additional $400 billion from businesses even as it retooled a proposed crackdown on international tax-avoidance techniques. The budget released today would reinstate 10-year-old income tax rates of 36 percent and 39.6 percent for single Americans earning more than $200,000 and joint filers who make more than $250,000 as part of a broad $1.9 trillion tax increase proposal.
It proposes to eliminate preferences for oil and gas companies, life-insurance products, executives of investment partnerships and U.S.-based companies that operate overseas. “The administration proposes to restore balance to the tax code by providing tax cuts to working families, returning to the pre-2001 ordinary income tax rates for families making more than a quarter of a million dollars a year, closing loopholes, and eliminating subsidies to special interests,” the budget says.
In all, Obama proposed $143.4 billion in new tax cuts for individuals who earn under $200,000. While the budget sets out $93.5 billion in gross tax reductions for businesses, overall they would face a net tax increase.
Nearly 2 trillion dollars of increased taxes and the guy has the audacity to say with a straight face that he’s a tax cutter, not a tax raiser!
Where is Joe Wilson when you really need him?
Note: The above graphic shows an average-sized human male standing (tiny speck in lower left corner) next to 1 trillion dollars double stacked in pallets of $100 million.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Taxing the Man Behind the Tree « Taxable Talk // Feb 2, 2010 at 12:03 pm
[...] The Tax Lawyer Blog has more on the bad budget coming out of Washington. [...]
2 Chelan // Feb 17, 2010 at 3:48 pm
What are you getting at here?
That raising taxes on greedy businesses is immoral, and cutting them for working class families is somehow a bad thing? Is that not the basis upon which he was elected? Tax the rich, take it easy on those who need help.
He’s doing nothing that he said he would not do. Time to stop stirring the pot, Rush.
3 Peter // Feb 18, 2010 at 11:02 am
Chelan,
I reject your major. I don’t think rich people are any more greedy than middle-class or poor people. I admire people who do not demand that others support them and doubly admire people who create jobs for others. We should cheer these people rather than hiss them.
Conversely, we should not reward people who bring children into the world they cannot afford. That’s rewarding child abuse.
Having said that, I do understand the human urge to blame others for our own failures. Although it never helps in the long run, it does make the blamer feel a little bit better about himself.
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