I didn't realize how unusual it has been to hear plain, unvarnished, common sense out of government for, you count 'em, how many years? So three paragraphs in this morning's Times make me feel intense gratitude for this little moment of clarity and sanity. (Don't get too optimistic. It will pass. Or rather, it won't pass... )
President Obama on Monday will call for a new minimum tax rate for individuals making more than $1 million a year to ensure that they pay at least the same percentage of their earnings as middle-income taxpayers, according to administration officials.
With a special joint Congressional committee starting work to reach a bipartisan budget deal by late November, the proposal adds a new and populist feature to Mr. Obama’s effort to raise the political pressure on Republicans to agree to higher revenues from the wealthy in return for Democrats’ support of future cuts from Medicare and Medicaid.
Mr. Obama, in a bit of political salesmanship, will call his proposal the “Buffett Rule,” in a reference to Warren E. Buffett, the billionaire investor who has complained repeatedly that the richest Americans generally pay a smaller share of their income in federal taxes than do middle-income workers, because investment gains are taxed at a lower rate than wages.
Mr. Obama will not specify a rate or other details, and it is unclear how much revenue his plan would raise. But his idea of a millionaires’ minimum tax will be prominent in the broad plan for long-term deficit reduction that he will outline at the White House on Monday. ...NYT
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Just when you thought it was safe to heave a sigh of relief comes this headliner from the Washington Post.
As President Obama and congressional Republicans argue over how to rewrite the U.S. tax code, the debate has revolved around “loopholes” for corporate jets and ending “carve-outs” for well-heeled special interests. But if the goal is debt reduction, that’s not where the money is.
Broad tax breaks granted to millions of families at all income levels dwarf the corporate giveaways. Over the past two years, largely because of these popular benefits in the federal income tax code, the government has reached a rare milestone in tax collection — it has given away as much as it takes in.
The number of tax breaks has nearly doubled since the last major tax overhaul 25 years ago, with lawmakers adding new benefits for children, college tuition, retirement savings and investment. At the same time, some long-standing breaks have exploded in value, such as the deduction for mortgage interest and the tax-free treatment of health-insurance premiums paid by employers.
All told, federal taxpayers last year received $1.08 trillion in credits, deductions and other perks while paying $1.09 trillion in income taxes, according to government estimates.
Only about 8 percent of those benefits went to corporations.
There would seem to be an air of triumphalism -- of "gotcha" -- in the report.
But wait a minute. Whose government is it? Does/should the government belong to corporations that are taking their jobs and benefits overseas? Or does/should it belong to the people who elect it -- elect it, not bribe it or do what they can to buy it? Isn't it fair that people get back from their government the same value they put in? Doesn't that $1.08 trillion paid/$1.09 trillion received make taxes a loan from people to government, paid back with a small amount of interest? Sounds okay to me.
That won't stop the right from playing with this one...
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House Speaker John Boehner opposes any taxes, any time, anywhere.
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A reminder: Obama still has some weapons in hand. For a start, his approval numbers don't include the public's positive reaction to specifics he has proposed. This could well hurt Republicans who stand in his way. According to analyst Greg Sargent, writing in the Washington Post:
* A huge majority, 80-16, favors spending money on the nation’s infrastructure in order to try to create jobs.
* A big majority, 71, favors reducing the deficit through a combination of tax increases and spending cuts; a meager 21 percent favors only spending cuts.
* A solid majority, 56-37, favors reducing the deficit with tax hikes on households earning $250,000 a year or more.
And his colleagues Cillizza and Blake see a trap for Republicans who stand in the way of improving the economy.
Is there a way out of this trap? Perhaps. As Aaron Blake and Chris Cillizza noted the other day, the fact that the public still gives Obama’s individual policies high marks suggests that despite all the overall disapproval of Obama on the economy and jobs, the public is still prepared to hear him out on the topic. Even if things look very bleak right now, there’s still an opportunity for him win this battle, by getting some actual policies passed — they are popular, after all — or by driving home to the public who’s responsible for goverment paralysis in the face of the crisis.
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Taken together, Republicans aren’t just unpopular as a party, but they also stand strongly against with what the American mainstream wants. Some of the most popular ideas to give the economy a boost are also some of the ideas Republicans refuse to even consider.
Indeed, we now have four recent polls — NYT, CNN, National Journal, and NBC — that have all found roughly the same dynamic: “[D]espite all the disapproval and pessimism, Americans approve of the actual fiscal policies Obama is proposing.” ...Steve Benen, h/t Greg Sargent
The Republicans are sustained for the most part by their media. Fox and others make sure Republican voices are the voices heard. But it's gotten to the point where it's all about the media. A little as though Republicans wear the pants with Fox acting as the suspenders. All most of us see are naked Republicans, their pants around their ankles but those suspenders still draped over their shoulders.
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President Obama has been groping for a response to the biggest crisis of his career. All he has to do is listen to the voters.
The Times and CBS News released a new poll on Friday, and once again we were impressed that Americans are a lot smarter than Republican leaders think, more willing to sacrifice for the national good than Democratic leaders give them credit for, and more eager to see the president get tough than Mr. Obama and his conflict-averse team realize.
So long as the politicians keep reinforcing their misconceptions — and listening only to themselves — the country has little chance of getting what the voters want most: jobs and a growing economy. ...NYT editorial board
