Friday, February 19, 2010

Obama Sets Roadmap for Tax Increases


President Obama set in motion his plan to increase taxes. If you'll remember during the campaign he said on more than one occasion (actually just about every speech he made) that anyone making less than $250,000 per year would not see their taxes increase, not even one dime.


After failing to get the Debt Commission approved in the Senate a few weeks ago, he said he was going to sign an Executive Order to create this commission and yesterday he did just that. We all know that when a commission is set up for any purpose, that commission makes the recommendation that the sitting President wants recommended. In other words, this is for show.


Obama and the congress is letting the Bush tax cuts expire. Those tax cuts expire on December 31, 2010. So beginning on January 1 tax rates will increase. Democrats like to say that they aren't increasing but rather they are being returned to rates that President Reagan put in place. Since President Bush had tax rates reduced in 2001 and again in 2003, the expiration of those tax cuts means that we're getting a tax hike. You can put earrings on a pig, but you still have a pig.


Bush's tax cuts created record amounts of revenue coming into the government. Due to those tax cuts, the economy took off to heights not seen in 25 years. Unemployment was at or below 5%, which is considered full employment.


Unfortunately, that excess revenue was then spent by the Congress. It wasn't all applied to the debt, and while it reduced the deficit in 2006, the spending increases caused the deficit to increase again.


Obama is a tax and spend Democrat. He's tripled the debt in his one year in office and quadrupled the deficit from the record highs set by the Bush Administration. This commission that he created is being headed by Erskine Bowles (former advisor to President Clinton) and (former) Senator Alan Simpson. Obama appointed four people of his choice. The Republicans will appoint six and the Democrats will appoint six.


Obama says he's forcing this to be bi-partisan by saying that they must have 14 of the commissioners in agreement on a solution to reduce the debt. To reach the 14, he will have to have some Republicans agree on the plan that they come out with.


This will do a couple of things. First, it will allow Obama to say "it's not my fault, the commission is recommending this and Republicans 0n the commission were in agreement. Second, it will allow Congress to say that this isn't their idea, but rather that of the commission so it shouldn't be held against Congress.


Finally, they are required to have their report out by December 1, of this year. That's AFTER the election. So even if the people aren't fooled by the so-called bi-partisanship, they have no recourse for two more years.


So while the Bush tax cuts expire, we can expect an increase in taxes over and above the increase from the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. Obama believes that we can tax our way out of the recession and into prosperity despite the long list of failures by everyone that's tried it in various states and in the Federal government. It's never worked and it will never work.


He's provided cover for himself to get away from his promise of no new taxes nor tax increases on anyone earning less than $250,000 per year.


I believe that the people will not be fooled and that this underscores the need for Conservatives to be voted in come November. That can stop these tax increases. It won't stop the expiration of the Bush tax cuts (unless a miracle happens and the Republicans get a veto proof majority), but those elections should be able to stop additional taxes being put on the American people.


This will be a job killer and decrease revenue to the government causing them to want more taxes to cover their bills.


Following the election in November, it will then be up to us to keep our elected officials feet to the fire so that Republicans that will be elected in droves this fall don't go along with the tax increases but push hard to bring spending down. This means eliminating some expenses as well as reducing the spending in other areas.


As this is going on, and Obama is bragging about freezing spending (beginning next year) for three years, he's out in Nevada handing out another $1.5 Billion.


We can't trust what Obama says. We can only watch what he does. What he is doing is talking out of one side of his mouth and doing something else from the other side. This just shows the desperate need we have to elect Conservatives.


If Obama really wants to do something constructive, he might want to take a course on managing a checkbook.


You're welcome to comment.


Brett




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