the consistent effort by conservative, corporate dems to try and tarnish progressive

[ProSense]

15. Seriously,

They try to obfuscate the message of progressives by co-opting it in that way. Hey, we all like Obama. No question.

He just isn't strongly enough committed to justice and, in spite of is rhetoric, to equal opportunity. To have equal opportunity, as another DU post so aptly pointed out today, you have to have something approaching economic equality. Economic equality does not mean that everybody gets the same income. It means that the gap between poor and rich is not so huge that it is in reality almost insurmountable. It means that, as long as there are rich people with several houses, houses that they cannot reside in at one time, anyone who works and contributes will earn enough to feed, clothe and care for a family.

Obama talks the talk on this issue, but, really, even his health care bill will mean that the rich at the top of the health insurance companies continue to get a bigger than life slice of our health care dollars while the rest of us struggle to pay deductibles and co-pays. I back Obama on the ACA, but I wish he had included single payer advocates at the table in the discussions prior to the passage of the ACA. Excluding them was an example of Obama's weakness and lack of courage.

Obama always gives the top dogs, the plutocrats in the country, their 30 pieces of silver.

....this completely ignores reality.

The heatlh care law raised the payroll tax for high income earners and taxed investment income.

Net Investment Income Tax

A new Net Investment Income Tax goes into effect starting in 2013. The 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax applies to individuals, estates and trusts that have certain investment income above certain threshold amounts. The IRS and the Treasury Department have issued proposed regulations on the Net Investment Income Tax. Comments may be submitted electronically, by mail or hand delivered to the IRS. For additional information on the Net Investment Income Tax, see our questions and answers.

Additional Medicare Tax

A new Additional Medicare Tax goes into effect starting in 2013. The 0.9 percent Additional Medicare Tax applies to an individual’s wages, Railroad Retirement Tax Act compensation, and self-employment income that exceeds a threshold amount based on the individual’s filing status. The threshold amounts are $250,000 for married taxpayers who file jointly, $125,000 for married taxpayers who file separately, and $200,000 for all other taxpayers. An employer is responsible for withholding the Additional Medicare Tax from wages or compensation it pays to an employee in excess of $200,000 in a calendar year. The IRS and the Department of the Treasury have issued proposed regulations on the Additional Medicare Tax. Comments may be submitted electronically, by mail or hand delivered to the IRS. For additional information on the Additional Medicare Tax, see our questions and answers.

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Affordable-Care-Act-Tax-Provisions

Krugman: Obama and the One Percent
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024391415

A CBO Report Shows How Obamacare Will Help the Working Poor
http://www.nextnewdeal.net/rediscovering-government/cbo-report-shows-how-obamacare-will-help-working-poor