BurtWorm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Sep-20-10 03:40 PM
Original message
Obama to rich: I'd love to give you another tax break, but right now we can't afford to Updated at 4:19 PM
Idiots. (<-He didn't say that last bit there.)
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/20...
OBAMA ON GOP'S TAX DEMANDS: 'I DON'T HAVE THE MATH'.... President Obama participated in a town-hall discussion on the economy today on CNBC, and heard from some folks who weren't necessarily pleased with him.
But given the debate on Capitol Hill about tax policy, the president's remarks on the subject may have been the most noteworthy. "Here's what I can't do," Obama said. "I can't give tax cuts to the top 2% of Americans -- 86% of that money going people making $1 million or more -- and lower the deficit at the same time. I don't have the math.
"I'd love to do it. Anybody in elected office would love nothing more than to give everybody tax cuts -- not cut services, make sure that I'm providing help to student loans, make sure that we're keeping our roads safe and our bridges safe, make sure that we're paying for our veterans coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. At some point, the numbers just don't work, so what I've said is very simple. Let's go ahead and move forward on what we agree to -- which is tax relief for 97% of Americans, in fact, everybody would get tax relief, just up to $250,000 a year or more -- and let's the economy moving faster. Let's get it growing faster.
"At some point in the future, if we want to have discussions about further lowering tax rates, let's do so at a time when we can actually afford it."
Watching this, my first instinct is to wonder whether the American public in general will find this persuasive, which is why it's probably worth re-emphasizing that they already do.
At the same event, the president took note of the ambiguities of the Tea Partiers' agenda. He summarized their pitch this way: "We're going to control government spending. We're going to propose $4 trillion in additional tax cuts and somehow magically this is all going to work." Obama would like to know if these same activists would want to cut veterans benefits, Social Security, and/or Medicare. "The challenge for the Tea Party movement is to identify what exactly would you do," he said.
Sounds like a challenge? What do you say, conservatives?
—Steve Benen 3:10 PM Permalink | Trackbacks | Comments (7)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9169244If only he could figure out we can't afford all this spending.
el_bryanto Donating Member (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Sep-20-10 03:43 PM
Response to Original message
1. If the numbers were there I'd like to see that too
Because it would imply our economy was chuggling along full speed ahead again. But that's not where we are, and given some of the foolishness of the last few years, I'm not sure we are going to be there anytime soon.
Bryant
uh huh, you would still be screeching "tax the rich".
blondeatlast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Sep-20-10 03:45 PM
Response to Original message
3. Again, he puts the ReBPublicans on the defensive. My prediction is that
no one will respond to that very reasonable statement in a reasonable way.
Because they can't.
Actually we can't afford a tax increase. You think things are bad now dummies just wait till we tax the piss out of the rich.
global1 (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Sep-20-10 03:55 PM
Response to Original message
6. The Rich Don't Know What "Can't Afford To" Means.......
Edited on Mon Sep-20-10 03:56 PM by global1
Whatever they want they are able to buy. They have no concept of "can't afford".
You know there are 97% of the American people out there wishing they made over $250,000 and would be glad to pay any additional taxes on that money.
I've always lived under the fact that the more I make the more tax I pay. And you know - I don't mind. Why? Because the more I make the more money I have to live on - even if I have to pay taxes on that money. I'm happy to be able to have to pay those taxes - because I know that some of that money goes back and helps those less fortunate.
It's too bad that "GREED" has taken over in this country
Are you really that stupid? If I earned 250k I sure as hell would not want to hand most of that to the govt. I would want to pay down my debt, do things for my family and spend that money on things of my choosing.
blondeatlast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Journal Click to send private message to this author Click to view this author's profile Click to add this author to your buddy list Click to add this author to your Ignore list Mon Sep-20-10 03:58 PM
Response to Reply #6
7. EXACTLY.
Edited on Mon Sep-20-10 04:47 PM by blondeatlast
To the rich, they "can't afford" to replace the five-year old BMW.
Right now, I can't afford to replace my son's outgrown basketball shoes and his league starts next week.
And I consider myself damn fortunate.
And when the rich can't afford that new BMV it's not just the rich person that gets hurt.
If people aren't buying BMW's then there aren't any jobs.
If the rich people hand over all their money to uncle Sam the Govt could run for a day then everyone would be broke and jobless.
