In Obama Tax Plan, A Shift of Wealth From the Top Down

[babylonsister]

In Obama Tax Plan, A Shift of Wealth From the Top Down


President Obama's spending plan would give the poor new tax cuts, new college loans and a new health care system by taxing the rich nearly $1 trillion. (By Joshua Roberts -- Bloomberg News)

By Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 7, 2009; Page D01


It has been called a Robin Hood budget: The spending plan President Obama sent to Congress last week would give the poor new tax cuts, new college loans and a new health care system by taking nearly $1 trillion from the rich in new taxes.

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh and other Republicans are blasting the plan as "socialist" and accusing the administration of "class warfare." Even Democrats are balking at a key element of the plan, a proposal to raise money for health care reform by limiting the value of itemized deductions, including on mortgage interest and charitable contributions, for the nation's top earners.

But Obama is unapologetic in his pursuit of a fundamental shift in tax policy that would redistribute wealth from about 3 million elite families to forgotten lower and middle classes. "The past eight years have discredited once and for all the philosophy of trickle-down economics -- that tax breaks, income gains and wealth creation among the wealthy eventually will work their way down to the middle class," his budget states. "In its place, we need economic opportunity to trickle up."

Few analysts dispute the notion that the gap between rich and poor has widened to a troubling degree over the past three decades. But measures that use the tax code to fix this problem may carry their own risks. Republicans and other critics argue that Obama's plan would punish success and stifle the very kind of spending that would foster investment and economic growth. And with the nation facing record budget deficits, lawmakers have questioned whether Obama will be able to balance the government's books while keeping his promise to tax only the top 2 percent of earners.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

[w4rma]

1. Perfect. (nt)

[icnorth]

2. "Few analysts dispute the notion..."

Rush they're coming to get you...Go Robin.

[ReliantJ]

3. I need to get my printed copy of the budget!

[polichick]

4. Music to my ears:

"The past eight years have discredited once and for all the philosophy of trickle-down economics -- that tax breaks, income gains and wealth creation among the wealthy eventually will work their way down to the middle class," his budget states. "In its place, we need economic opportunity to trickle up."

[MajorChode]

5. Class warfare is alive and well

If you are filthy rich in this country, you almost certainly get most of your income from equity investments. Those investments are currently taxed at the rate of 15%. That same family of four pays 6.2% of FICA and 1.4% of Medicare tax for a total effective federal tax rate of about 20.5%. A person with millions of income still pays only 15%.

Practically all other taxes (state taxes, sales taxes, personal and property taxes, fuel taxes, utility taxes) are all very regressive also.

Add all those things up and a working family of four can easily pay close to twice the tax rate of someone with millions of income. If that is not class warfare, I'm not sure what is.