Yesterday's 100,000 person rally in Civic Center Park is proof of Democrat Barack Obama's celebrity and drawing power. Barack Obama kept repeating his prevarication that his tax plan will not hurt small businesses.
"If you make less than a quarter million dollars a year, which includes 98 percent of small-business owners and, by the way, 99.9 percent of plumbers," he said, eliciting a roar of laughter as he poked fun at McCain campaign favorite "Joe the Plumber," "then you won't see your tax rate increase a single dime. . . . That is my commitment to you."
From RealClearPolitics, Barack Obama's speech admits that his policies are going to cost Americans much more than the above statement implies (h/t Abe Greenwald at Contentions).
Now, make no mistake: the change we need won't come easy or without cost. We will all need to tighten our belts, we will all need to sacrifice and we will all need to pull our weight because now more than ever, we are all in this together.
This is collectivism, pure and simple. As many small businesses are taxed at personal income rates, the purported $250,000 income limit (even liberal economist Paul Krugman disputes this amount) will hurt many small businesses, and, on the margin, force some to close or downsize.
After the Barack Obama lovefest, Denver radio station 850 KOA's reporter Jerry Bell interviewed the candidate. It is an interesting listen. Jerry Bell asked Obama his response to people who may think Obama is a socialist.
Barack Obama's response was stunning. First, he did his trademark dismissive giggle, as if this mannerism will magically refute the charge.
Next, he denied that he was a socialist merely because Warren Buffet and Colin Powell support him. Warren Buffet is a very rich Democrat. He is plagued with guilt over his money and advocates for higher tax rates. He could voluntarily write checks to the US treasury if he feels he is undertaxed. However, by turning it into a collective action situation, losing some of his $62 billion net worth to taxes will hurt him far less than one making $250,000 by extra capital gains and other taxes. It simply reduces the incentives for people at that level to work harder since these earnings will be punitatively taxed.
As for Colin Powell, he is a liberal Republican whose specialty was foreign affairs and the military. Colin Powell never advocated for economic issues to my knowledge.
Also, Obama claimed he will "roll back the tax cuts [ i.e. raise taxes ] on the wealthiest Americans so that we can give tax cuts to 95 percent of working families." As 40 percent of working families pay no federal income tax, one cannot cut income taxes on them. This is simply an additional transfer of income i.e. socialism. These socialistic policies walk like a duck and quack like a duck, so are they not a duck?
Barack Obama's collective action plan for the economy will harm the economy, not help it. With increased taxes and penalties on capital, the "rich" will cut back on investment and find ways to shift money outside of the tax structure. Tax collections will go down in the process. While no one knows exactly what will happen in the future, Obama's "spread the wealth" policies could harm the American economy for years to come.
by Civil Sense
Thanks for the link to Krugman's op-ed. By the way you referenced it, I thought it was going to cast doubt on Obama's truthfulness. Au contraire. I urge everyone to read Krugman's article, in which he notes how the middle class, those making less than $200,000 per year, will almost certainly be better off tax-wise under Obama's plan.
I'll also note that comments like "trademark dismissive giggle" detract from the credibility of your message. Don't fall into this trap!
Posted by: Nele | October 30, 2008 at 08:30 AM