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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"We just need some republican politicians to get on board with where the country is"
Remarks of President ObamaWeekly Address
The White House
April 14, 2012
One of the fundamental challenges of our time is building an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same rules.
And as many Americans rush to file their taxes this weekend, its worth pointing out that weve got a tax system that doesnt always uphold the principle of everyone doing their part.
Now, this is not just about fairness. This is also about growth. Its about being able to make the investments we need to strengthen our economy and create jobs. And its about whether we as a country are willing to pay for those investments.
In a perfect world, of course, none of us would have to pay any taxes. Wed have no deficits to pay down. And wed have all the resources we needed to invest in things like schools and roads and a strong military and new sources of energy investments that have always bolstered our economy and strengthened the middle class.
But we live in the real world, with real choices and real consequences. Right now, weve got significant deficits to close. Weve got serious investments to make to keep our economy growing. And we cant afford to keep spending more money on tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans who dont need them and didnt even ask for them.
Warren Buffett is one of the wealthiest men in the world. But he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. Thats just the way the system is set up. In fact, one in four millionaires pays a lower tax rate than millions of hardworking middle-class households.
As Warren points out, thats not fair and it doesnt make sense. Its wrong that middle-class Americans pay a higher share of their income in taxes than some millionaires and billionaires.
This week, Members of Congress are going to have a chance to set things right. They get to vote on what we call the Buffett Rule.
Its simple: If you make more than $1 million every year, you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle-class families do. On the other hand, if you make less than $250,000 a year -- like 98 percent of American families do -- your taxes shouldnt go up.
Thats all there is to it. Its pretty sensible. Most Americans support this idea. One survey found that two-thirds of millionaires do, too. So do nearly half of all Republicans.
We just need some Republican politicians to get on board with where the country is.
I know theyll say that this is all about wanting to raise peoples taxes. They probably wont tell you that if you belong to a middle-class family, then Ive cut your taxes each year that Ive been in office, and Ive cut taxes for small business owners 17 times.
But the thing is, for most Americans like me, tax rates are near their lowest point in 50 years. In 2001 and 2003, the wealthiest Americans received two huge new tax cuts. We were told these tax cuts would lead to faster job growth. Instead, we got the slowest job growth in half a century, and the typical American family actually saw its income fall.
On the flip side, when the most well-off Americans were asked to pay a little more in the 1990s, we were warned that it would kill jobs. Instead, tens of millions of jobs followed.
So weve tried this trickle-down experiment before. It doesnt work. And middle class families have seen too much of their security erode over the past few decades for us to tell them theyre going to have to do more because the wealthiest Americans are going to do less. We cant stop investing in the things that will help grow our economy and create jobs things like education, research, new sources of energy just so folks like me can get another tax cut.
So I hope youll ask your Member of Congress to step up and echo that call this week by voting for the Buffett Rule. Remind them that in America, prosperity has never just trickled down from a wealthy few. Prosperity has always been built by a strong, thriving middle class. Thats a principle worth reaffirming right now.
Thank you, God bless you, and have a great weekend.
transcript: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/04/14/weekly-address-it-s-time-congress-pass-buffett-rule
watch:
download:
mp4: http://www.whitehouse.gov/WeeklyAddress/2012/041412-CVRTYD/041412_WeeklyAddress.mp4
mp3: http://www.whitehouse.gov/WeeklyAddress/2012/041412-CVRTYD/041412_WeeklyAddress.mp3
orpupilofnature57
(15,472 posts)an Art form ,and any republican that did try to do the Right thing would be exiled to never never land , wheres Colin Powell ?
baldguy
(36,649 posts)Obama needs to stop with this "bipartisanship" bullshit. When will he realize that, no matter what he stands up to advocate or works to support, the GOP will move heaven and earth to oppose?
bigtree
(86,006 posts)There is NO ONE in Democratic politics who doesn't know that republicans don't have any intention of doing their job. This isn't "bipartisanship bullshit" at all. It's a statement to let the public recognize that he's not an obstacle to any of the changes he's seeking (most of what we see as activists and enthusiasts is nearly invisible to the majority of the nation's voters). It's a smart and effective practice to publicly appeal to the opposition to cooperate, but the President isn't waiting for the answer he knows very well won't come.
It doesn't make any sense to focus on that one platitude and ignore all of the areas where the President is confronting the republicans; most notably today, in this very address. This is as good as it gets in an election year. President Obama doesn't deserve the haranguing for challenging the republicans to do their job.