Mr. Prez, Do You Have An Alternative to Tax Breaks for the Rich?

[DemocracyInaction]

The media constantly covers GOP pie-holes preaching that the ONLY solution to EVERYTHING is cut taxes for the rich and corporations -- we all throw things at the TV when we hear this shit over and over again. But then I realized that I am not hearing Obama pound the podium, tell us why this is bullshit on a stick and putting forth any plan of his own except mumbling about "we need to invest in green jobs". I don't hear speeches about or explanations for why we need to raise revenues from these people or any proposals except "yup, we need to slash spending". He is letting the GOP ingrain their message into the public mind. Dem talking heads are counter attacking; but not the Dems or the Prez himself. My God, start telling us why these people need to start participating in this country. Start telling us why they are simply trucking the money out of this country and that tax breaks and subsidies are money thrown down a rat hole. DO SOMETHING--COMMUNICATE!

[MannyGoldstein]

1. Well, his Commission also recommend that Social Security be cut by 22%

Don't you think that $56,000 in benefit cuts for the average recipient would be helpful?

[DemocracyInaction]

2. Manny....to be honest....

....I don't think this guy has a clue what to do with this economy and does not care about "we the people" very much. I think he waits for the billionaires to call the shots and is trying to figure out a way to bullshit through the next election and then rip the guts out of the middle class once and for all as his "bosses" demand. We Dems are just pissing in the wind and hoping someone will save this country. This is just one, long, slow death march........

[Name removed]

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[StarsInHerHair]

14. I think this can be stopped at the Governor level, or at the Mayoral level-

though that would be a more difficult fight.

[RBInMaine]

17. Please, run for office yourself and prove that you can do better. Why don't you?

[awoke_in_2003]

23. the march began...

when Nixon opened trade relations with China. It has been sad watching this country slowly die.

[Name removed]

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[Dragonfli]

10. The Catfood Commission IS bipartisainship, and it is not a good thing when one of the "bi" wants to

take this country back to the gilded age.

Sometimes "bipartisanship" is a bad thing, if hitler ran a party should we meet him half way and only kill half the jews?

The commision is about setting the goals this administration will reach in it's "compromise" with the modern fascists, it is the goal mark and always has been, bipartisanship in this case is bad for all but 2 percent of this country and horrible (even life threatening) to the rest.

I hope he sharpens that axe and raises the red flags needed to avoid the impending appeasement by President "practically Republican".

[JoePhilly]

4. Guess you missed his speech on June 8th.

Probably because the media cut away from it. And didn't really mention it afterward.

Too busy screaming about Weiner's dick.

[woo me with science]

12. This speech?

This steaming pile of nothing he gave in Virginia?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=433&topic_id=687207&mesg_id=687382


You must have missed DU weighing in on what he said there:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4877458

[Name removed]

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[shraby]

5. Closing loopholes in the tax laws would effectively raise

the amount the uber-rich pay in taxes.

[dkf]

6. Get rid of the mortgage interest deduction

That is the most beneficial to the rich.


Ezra Klein:

Alex Hart has a good post examining whether the mortgage-interest tax deduction -- which will cost taxpayers $131 billion in 2012 -- is really a "middle-class tax break," as some people like to claim. The answer is no, but it really deserves a graph:


As you can see, the less money you make, the less the mortgage-interest tax deduction does for you. But putting it in percentile terms understates the situation, as 1 percent of a big salary is a lot more money than 1 percent of a small salary. So here's the same graph in raw dollars:


On both graphs, the benefits for the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution are invisible. That's not because they literally don't exist, but because the deduction is worth $2 to people between in the bottom fifth and $32 for the quintile after that. As for the top 1 percent? They're getting a break of more than $5,000. I'm not really clear why we're giving people making hundreds of thousands a year large subsidies to buy a house, but I'm sure there's a good reason.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/11/who_does_the_mortgage-interest.html

[Bluenorthwest]

16. Not just subsidies for the very rich to buy A house, but to buy

more than one house. That deduction applies on an all you can eat basis.

[Mimosa]

26. Still chicken feed.

Even if a rich person is a house-a-holic like Nicholas Cage the taxes he'd pay are nothing compared to what they'd pay if income tax rates were increased.

[Mimosa]

25. In the big scheme, that's chicken feed.

I wonder why you even think eliminating those deductions would bring in much revenue. It's an extremely bad idea to eliminate the mortgage interest deduction.

Raising tax rates for the wealthy is the solution to the deficit.

Also we might try stopping the colonisation costs in the Middle East. If the modern day equivalents of the East India Company want to reap profits from the raw materials in Afghanistan and Iraq they should be paying the bills.

[ClassWarrior]

7. Ironically, messaging has been one of this Administrations biggest failures.

NGU.

[StarsInHerHair]

15. sure wasn't when he ran, though

[AtomicKitten]

8. I guess you missed Pres O pick apart Ryan's plan with him in the front row.

link: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/04/13/ryan-is-irked-as-obama-picks-apart-his-budget-plan/

[Tarheel_Dem]

11. And because you've never heard it, that means he's never said it?

:shrug:

[StarsInHerHair]

13. start SOUNDING LIKE A 1930s FILM!!

[RBInMaine]

18. Perhpas you should actually start listening. Read on for a memory refresher:

He stood right there, broke apart the Ryan plan in front of Ryan, and hammered it on Medicare, other cuts he doesn't support, and REPEATEDLY said how it was wrong to cut Medicare and other important things while giving tax cuts to the millionaires and billionaires. In his weekly addresses he has slammed tax subsidies for the oil companies and would sign a bill removing them, and he has said REPEATEDLY in other venues and at other times that not only does he not support any further extensions of the Bush tax cuts for the rich, he will not sign on to another extension of them. Fine, maybe he could be even louder about it, but maybe you and some others could also listen a little closer to all that HAS been said and all that HAS been done.

[paulk]

20. the problem is this -

Obama extended the Bush tax cuts for the rich, so anything he says now on the subject rings hollow. Yes, I realize you will trot out the standard excuse - he needed to extend unemployment benefits, he was forced into it - but the truth is that Obama is a poor negotiator who has been used time and time again by the Republicans...

Actions always speak louder than words.

[Name removed]

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[indepat]

22. It was known from the git-go the tax cuts would be extended for the uber-wealthy 'cause every one

knew the pubs would not allow extension of tax cuts on lower incomes unless tax cuts for the uber-wealthy were also included. Continued tax cuts on lower incomes were not nearly as important as continued tax cuts for the uber-wealthy would be harmful, but that game was nonetheless played out. The wise/prudent course of action would have been to let all the tax cuts expire. :patriot:

[TheKentuckian]

24. If you let them all expire and want middle and lower income relief

You actually set up a vote where the TeaPubliKlans can't hide behind fighting against all tax increases and force them to vote for against tax relief for middle and lower earners but our genius "leaders" trotted out a vote they surely understood the politics of and have seen the tactic untold times and then resigned themselves to rolling over, planting a whit flag up their asses, and giving up.

The claim is the TeaPubliKlans voted against relief for the "middle class" but they absolutely did not, they voted, as is fucking standard GOP framing against a tax increase.

Leaders that are too stupid or cowardly to take away that old and tired crutch are too stupid and/or cowardly to lead anywhere besides oblivion.

Rest assured it would be a horse of a different color if those cuts were fucking gone and they were voting against relief for real. That is not nuance, it is reality versus hypothetical.

[Cali_Democrat]

28. Exactly right

Obama completely dropped the ball on the tax cuts.

[lonestarnot]

27. Yeah and end the fucking wars!

[boppers]

29. He's been on the topic every week.

If you haven't been seeing, hearing, or reading it, perhaps that says something about your choices of media.