The big question: How, not whether, to raise taxes
Posted by Ezra Klein on November 14, 2012 at 2:40 pm, WashPost
Here’s the difference an election makes: The decisive question in American politics has moved from “should we increase taxes?” to “how will we increase taxes?”
The GOP’s position is clear: “What matters is where the increased revenue comes from, and what type of reform comes with it,” Speaker John Boehner said last week. “Does the increased revenue come from government taking a larger share of what the American people earn through higher tax rates? Or does it come as the byproduct of a growing economy, energized by a simpler, cleaner, fairer tax code, with fewer loopholes, and lower rates for all?”
In other words: Revenues are on the table, but only if they can be achieved without increasing tax rates. So: Raising taxes by letting the Bush tax cuts expire for income over $250,000? No go, as that tax hike increases the top rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. But raising taxes by, say, limiting the rich to $17,000 in deductions? That might be on the table.
In his press conference today, President Obama also made his position clear: “There are loopholes that can be closed and we should look at how we can make the filing process easier, simpler,” he said in his press conference today. “But when it comes to the top 2 percent, what I’m not going to do is extend further a tax cut for folks who don’t need it that costs close to a trillion dollars. And it’s very difficult, if you’re serious about the numbers, to see how we make up that trillion dollars by closing loopholes. The math doesn’t add up.”
In other words: The top tax rate is going up. That’s not, Obama says, because he wants the top tax rate to go up. It’s because raising the top tax rate is the only realistic way to get the revenue.
(More here.)
Here’s the difference an election makes: The decisive question in American politics has moved from “should we increase taxes?” to “how will we increase taxes?”
The GOP’s position is clear: “What matters is where the increased revenue comes from, and what type of reform comes with it,” Speaker John Boehner said last week. “Does the increased revenue come from government taking a larger share of what the American people earn through higher tax rates? Or does it come as the byproduct of a growing economy, energized by a simpler, cleaner, fairer tax code, with fewer loopholes, and lower rates for all?”
In other words: Revenues are on the table, but only if they can be achieved without increasing tax rates. So: Raising taxes by letting the Bush tax cuts expire for income over $250,000? No go, as that tax hike increases the top rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. But raising taxes by, say, limiting the rich to $17,000 in deductions? That might be on the table.
In his press conference today, President Obama also made his position clear: “There are loopholes that can be closed and we should look at how we can make the filing process easier, simpler,” he said in his press conference today. “But when it comes to the top 2 percent, what I’m not going to do is extend further a tax cut for folks who don’t need it that costs close to a trillion dollars. And it’s very difficult, if you’re serious about the numbers, to see how we make up that trillion dollars by closing loopholes. The math doesn’t add up.”
In other words: The top tax rate is going up. That’s not, Obama says, because he wants the top tax rate to go up. It’s because raising the top tax rate is the only realistic way to get the revenue.
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
Taxes need to be raised on everyone. No one should be exempted. Hell, I say double, triple, even quadruple the tax rates on those making over 250K, but everyone under 250K must have their taxes raised, too. Even the man mired in grinding poverty who only earns two nickels a month, sleeps on a park bench, and eats from a McDonald's garbage bin, he needs his taxes raised by even one penny per month. No one should be exempt from having to pay something in taxes.
My hope is the Republicans let all Bush-era tax cuts expire. We now live in a 'we're all in this together' society. It's time we all adopt this philosophy for the greater good of our dear leader President Obama.
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