First let me start by saying I wish I was in a position to have to worry about one of the new taxes Obama is proposing. However, just because it doesn’t affect me (or you) does not mean it is: 1) a good idea and/or 2) fair.
Here’s the gist from AP:
The presidential candidate told senior citizens in Ohio that it is unfair for middle-class earners to pay the Social Security tax “on every dime they make,” while millionaires and billionaires pay it on only “a very small percentage of their income.”
The 6.2 percent payroll tax is now applied to all income up to $102,000 a year, which covers the entire amount for most Americans. Under Obama’s plan, the tax would not apply to incomes between that amount and $250,000. But all annual income above the quarter-million-dollar amount would be taxed under his plan.
So, using Obama’s logic, it is fair to tax every dime up to $102,000, then if you make between $102,000 and $250,000, those dimes will not be taxed. From $250,000 on up, he would start taxing dimes again.
Is this really about fairness, or is this acknowledgement that there are a lot of votes between $102,000 and $250,000 that he doesn’t want to lose and even more votes below $102,000 that he wants to win by sticking it to the rich?
He also took this opportunity to take a swipe at McCain:
Obama also criticized McCain for being open to letting taxpayers invest part of their Social Security payments in private investment accounts.
“Imagine if your security now was tied up with the Dow Jones,” he said, alluding to the recent slide in stock prices. “You wouldn’t feel very confident about the security of your nest egg.”
Really. Hmmm.. let’s see. Suppose I started investing in the Dow 30 years ago in prep for retirement, what would that look like (highlighted in light blue):
Looks pretty good to me….
Scary how little Obama understands about the stock markets. From the WSJ:
After Senator Obama let it be known that he’d consider nearly doubling to 28% the current capital gains tax rate of 15%, he had to expect questions. In the Pennsylvania debate, the moderator pointedly asked Mr. Obama why he’d do this, since history has shown that higher rates bring less revenue. Mr. Obama’s response was to take a shot at wealthy hedge fund managers.
From ABC News where you can watch a clip from the debate:
“Well, Charlie, what I’ve said is I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness,” said Obama.
So “fairness”, an arbitrary measure applied based upon your vantage point, is more important than the economy?
And there’s this bit of incoherence from a CNBC interview courtesy of USAToday:
Well, you know, I haven’t given a firm number. Here’s my belief, that we can’t go back to some of the, you know, confiscatory rates that existed in the past that distorted sound economics. And I certainly would not go above what existed under Bill Clinton, which was 28 percent. I would—and my guess would be it would be significantly lower than that. I think that we can have a capital gains rate that is higher than 15 percent. If it—and if it, you know—when I talk to people like Warren Buffett or others and I ask them, you know, what’s—how much of a difference is it going to be if it’s 20 or 25 percent, they say, look, if it’s within that range, then it’s not going to distort, I think, economic decision making.
Which is, of course, another example of Obama without a script. What the heck did he say?
Essentially what he was saying during that debate is that the negative impact on tax revenue from raising the capital gains tax was outweighed by the need for “fairness”.
Now we come to learn that investing in the Dow Jones over a lifetime is something to feel insecure about and, by the way, he does not even acknowledge that: 1) you don’t have to invest in the stock markets, there are other “safer” options and 2) it’s our money! Why shouldn’t we have a say in how it is invested?
The answer is obvious: those of us in the non-elite class can not be trusted to make intelligent decisions with our money and must depend on Mother America to take care of us, with the help of other people’s money.
Be very careful of politicians making decisions about your money based upon their view of fairness, without regard to economic impact, especially when votes are on the line and attempts are made to buy said votes through redistribution of wealth in the name of fairness.
|
|
|
|