White House Dodges Question of Whether Obama Supports House Democrats' Plan for

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White House Dodges Question of Whether Obama Supports House Democrats' Plan for $540-Billion Income Tax Hike

White House (CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama has insisted that comprehensive health care reform be passed this year, but the administration’s chief spokesman would not say on Monday whether Obama supports a House Democratic proposal to increase income taxes by $540 billion to pay for the “deficit-neutral” health reform plan the president wants.
 
“I have been asked virtually every week since taking this job to comment on individual tax proposals,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told CNSNews.com.
 
“I’ll begin whatever week of my tenure this is by saying that the president has laid out what he thinks the best proposals are. You know them because I’ve said them 483 times, but the president is also going to watch what plays out on Capitol Hill and see what happens,” Gibbs said.

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If the tax is enacted, top-income earners in 33 states would pay more than half of their income in taxes--federal, state and local--according to a study by the Tax Foundation. For high earners, the new surtax would be four percent, on top of the federal rate of 39.6 percent income tax.
 
“Combining top federal and state rates and factoring in all deductions, the government would be taking over half of every additional dollar from high-income taxpayers in two-thirds of the states under this latest funding scheme,” Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge said in a statement.
 
The hardest hit states would be Hawaii, Oregon, New Jersey, California, Rhode Island, Vermont, New York, Maine, Minnesota and Idaho. Meanwhile, the cities of New York and Washington, D.C., would see their top rates go to 53.6 percent and 57.3 percent respectively.

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Anyone not see this one coming?