General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Barack Obama, in a breathtaking display of cynicism, blatantly sells out to large Corporations [View all]Ian62
(604 posts)designed as a sop to Democrat opinion and supporters.
The amount of revenue expected to be raised by increasing taxes for those on more than $250k was equivalent to about 8 days of government spending.
It was about $80bn annually. 2012 spending is circa $3,500bn
Obviously the tax revenue raised will be quite a bit less if it is only going to apply to those on over $400k.
Obama's own projections for his 2013 deficit during the election was about $1,100bn.
The Republicans and Democrats have created a sham argument over taxing the rich equivalent to something like $50bn a year.
There are easy ANNUAL savings of $1 TRILLION plus from government waste.
But neither the Democrats nor the Republicans are going near them. They would somewhat reduce Corporate profits, which are currently at record highs (read my full article & the links within it).
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/it-is-very-easy-to-cut-1tn-from-federal.html
Why isn't Obama going after CORPORATION TAX loopholes as a revenue raising measure? That alone would raise more than the circa $50bn the sham argument is about.
Corporate profits are at record levels. But large multinationals pay next to nothing in Corporation Tax.
The solution to the current economic stagnation is simple.
The balance between record Corporate profits and real wages hitting new lows must be addressed.
You would have thought this would be a dominant Democrat meme. But it isn't.
Keeping the payroll tax cut and closing Corporate Tax loopholes whereby large Corporations siphon off US generated profits to tax havens like Bermuda (Google) to pay for it would be one small step in the right direction.
Reducing the huge amounts of government waste so that you do not need to collect so much tax from the lower and middle class taxpayers would be another step in the right direction.