President Obama struck a combative tone on Monday as called for $1.5 trillion in new tax revenue as part of a proposal to tame the nation’s rocketing federal debt, drawing a sharp contrast with the Republican vision and resetting the terms of the economic debate in Washington this fall.Read the rest here.
In a defiant Rose Garden appearance, Obama threatened to veto any plan to tame the debt that does not pair cuts to Medicare and Medicaid with increases in taxes on the rich.
“We can’t just cut our way out of this hole,” Obama said. “It’s going to take a balanced approach.”
Combined with his call this month for $450 billion in new stimulus, the proposal represents a more populist approach to confronting the nation’s economic travails than the compromises he advocated earlier this summer.
It is also diametrically opposed to many of the views supported by Republicans, who want to balance the nation’s books mainly through cutting spending, particularly in Medicare and Medicaid.
Republiacns argue that Obama’s plan to tax the rich is a divisive political strategy. But Obama rejected that view Monday.
“This is not class warfare,” Obama said. “It is math.”
Sounds like Obama is taking some lessons from the GOP playbook.
Seems to me a flat tax with no deductions set at a revenue neutral rate would be fair. Set any increase in revenues aimed at the goal of closing the deficit to expire when the "extraordinary" increase in spending (and "investment") from the GFC would be fair as well. Kick some equity into this puppy somewhere! Sunset provisions should apply to both tax cuts (which they do) and tax increases (which they don't). Rocket science? Premise that government expansion is the answer to the GFC is the fail point. Might as well flush that baby out and see if it really has legs (or not). I tend to think the case for expansion can be made ONLY if there is a new partnership between Govt and Biz that starts to look more 21st century rather than our present very early adversarial 20th century model.
ReplyDelete