MoveOn.org: This Is Ridiculous (Obama Tax Cuts)

Via email:

Dear MoveOn member,

This is ridiculous. The media has been obsessing about President Obama's plan to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans—from 35% to 39.6%—even asking if that makes him a socialist.1

But do you know what tax rate the wealthiest Americans paid on the top portion of their earnings at the end of Ronald Reagan's first term? 50%.

Under Richard Nixon? 70%. Under Dwight Eisenhower? 91%!

Shocking, right?

And for all the whining about rolling back Bush's irresponsible tax cuts, the truth is that Obama's plan cuts taxes for 95% of working Americans. Further, it closes huge tax loopholes for oil companies, hedge funds and corporations that ship jobs overseas so that we can invest in the priorities that will get our economy back on track.2

We saw a great chart in The Washington Monthly that shows just how absurd Republican complaints about Obama's budget are. Can you check it out and then fax the flyer we've prepared to Sen. Hagan, so she knows not to parrot Republican talking points?



Click the chart to download the flyer and get Sen. Hagan's fax number?

Or click here to download the flyer:

http://pol.moveon.org/fax/?tg=FSNC_2&cp_id=863&id=15745-5228739-JrQFodx&t=2

Thanks for all you do.

–Daniel, Eli, Laura, Matt and the rest of the team


Sources:

1. "A socialist? Obama calls back to insist no," The International Herald Tribune, March 8, 2009
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/08/america/barack.php

2. "Tax Cuts," The New York Times, February 26, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/washington/27web-tax.html

3. "Soaking the Rich (Redux)," The Washington Monthly, March 8, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51234&id=15745-5228739-JrQFodx&t=3

which is what they're hoping we don't notice.

Since the rich are going to shriek with agony over every penny, I think Obama needs to stop being so careful of their tender feelings and jack taxes up to the point we are no longer in danger of having an aristocracy.

The rich and entitled have no clue just how angry most people in this country are getting. Every yowl of protest over even timid tax hikes should resonate loud and clear and add to the rage.

to the point that any large transfers alert the IRS.

That works when they're trying to retrieve cash they've squirreled away in tax havens, too.

Seriously, they're not going to pick up their marbles and go home. They want their money to keep making more money even if the tax man takes a bigger bite of it. They're not going to cash out hundreds of millions of dollars, especially when the market is this low.

You sound seriously well-informed. How refreshing.

Yes that graph says a great deal, the times with the lowest tax rates for the wealthy just happen to occur right before the two biggest economic crises of the past century.

in 10 years.

that itty bitty 4% decrease = 2 trillion dollars in 10 years for <1% of the population.

What everyone remembers is where they were at the end of the 2nd term. I think that was too low (which is why G. H. W. Bush had to raise taxes), but when people think of Reagen they don't remember what taxes were half-way through his time in office. I'm fully supportive of Obama, but this argument isn't going to convince anyone of anything.

homeless.

All i'm saying is that it's not a very good talking point and isn't going to sway any republican-leaners or end any arguments. You don't have to take it so literally.

as was the destruction of my town's downtown business core.

fuck reagan.

Volcker was chairman of the Federal Reserve, appointed by Carter. All he did was bring inflation under control by managing the monetary policy. Fed chiefs don't have any direct control over administration policy and particularly not taxation. I guess you just want to vent your spleen rather than answer the original point. Enjoy.

on economics.


"volker recession"


"bring inflation under control" = bust unions, lower wages, break the working class, destroy small business, put 10% of the country out of work.

fuck reagan, fuck volker.

'Volcker recession' my ass. The US was already in a severe recession when Volcker was appointed, thanks to the oil crisis and Nixon's price controls. Inflation is a bad thing - look at Zimbabwe, the Weimar republic, any number of other historical examples. Inflation kills poor people because the value of their pay degrades faster than they can spend it, and it destroys the value of savings, whether in a bank account or under the mattress. Why anyone would think this was a good thing is beyond me.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=volker+recession

widely known as the "volker recession".

he caused it, deliberately, by jacking up interest rates.

he put people out of work & destroyed businesses to discipline labor.


weimar-style inflation is caused by - bankers & capitalists. not by wage-push. the us wasn't in hyper-inflation in 1980.

bite me.

Maybe you should move to Zimbabwe. You'll be super-rich in no time.

responded to by raising their own prices. Kinda like the recent oil price hikes, caused by producer hikes & financial speculation. With similarly disatrous results for workers.







Oil is an oligopolistic market; producers have price-setting power.

Oil is a good which nearly every other industry is dependent on.

Oil producer raise prices; everyone else does too.

Volker's interest rate hikes were undertaken to discipline labor & drive smaller or weaker producers out of the market so the big boys could buy up the wreckage & consolidate as prelude to the 80s-2008 reign of pirates.

It means that in 5 years, your purchasing power drops by half. If you think this is a good thing, you're welcome to it. I'm done with this silly conversation.

That means only the amount above $250,000 will be taxed at the additional 4.6%, not the entire amount.

Let's say a person has $300,000 in taxable income.

That's $50,000 that would be taxed at 39.6% instead of 35%.

What's 4.6% of $50,000? $2,300

So, a person that has $300K of taxable income would be paying only $2,300 more a year in taxes than before.

That's less than $200 extra per month in taxes for someone getting $25,000 monthly.

Wow, yeah, that's a backbreaker. :eyes:

pre-Reagan levels.

..The "good-times" coincide with high-taxation on the rich..

When they pay their fair share, the country does well.. when they get gredy, the rest of us suffer

CNBC especially. Roll it up and shove it up Larry Kudlow's ass.

Their talking heads are on there bashing Obama, and speaking nothing but NEGATIVE shit again.
FCC and SEC need investigate the channel. Between Cramer's little market manipulation video and Maria's gaff, these guys are toxic for this Country!

:dem:

-Laelth

But do we really need more revenue to run the government? Couldn't we just spend more wisely what we collect now?

No more wars, etc.

As I said I don't disagree with the cuts, but looking at that graph, what was a person's motivation for working if their last dollars were taxed at 90%? Wouldn't you do the math and decide your time was better spent doing something other than working to give away your earnings?

woke up after 8 years of catapulting the bushwellian nightmare.

Think john king, chip reid, chuckie todd, ect ect ect.

from work