Here's what I think of your "Buffett Rule."
As many know, I am a fan of president Ronald Reagan. I named one of my daughters Reagan, as any good conserva-tarian would.
He wasn’t perfect, but who is?
My affection for the man makes the latest move by Team Obama a little more irritating, not only because of the gall it takes to insert “Teh One” into the biographies of president greater than he’ll ever be, but because it is propaganda. And it didn’t stop with Reagan:
- On Feb. 22, 1924 Calvin Coolidge became the first president to make a public radio address to the American people. President Coolidge later helped create the Federal Radio Commission, which has now evolved to become the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). President Obama became the first president to hold virtual gatherings and town halls using Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.
- In a 1946 letter to the National Urban League, President Truman wrote that the government has “an obligation to see that the civil rights of every citizen are fully and equally protected.” He ended racial segregation in civil service and the armed forces in 1948. Today the Obama administration continues to strive toward upholding the civil rights of its citizens, repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, allowing people of all sexual orientations to serve openly in our armed forces.
- President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare signed (sic) into law in 1965—providing millions of elderly healthcare stability. President Obama’s historic health care reform law, the Affordable Care Act, strengthens Medicare, offers eligible seniors a range of preventive services with no cost-sharing, and provides discounts on drugs when in the coverage gap known as the “donut hole.”
- On August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. Today the Obama administration continues to protect seniors and ensure Social Security will be there for future generations.
- In a June 28, 1985 speech Reagan called for a fairer tax code, one where a multi-millionaire did not have a lower tax rate than his secretary. Today, President Obama is calling for the same with the Buffett Rule.
Hot Air has more.
Philip Klein explains the difference between Reagan and Obama’s ideas on taxation:
To start, Reagan was talking about simplifying the tax code, whereas Obama’s Buffett Rule would add another layer of complexity. Reagan was arguing for allowing people to keep more of their own money and reduce the burden of government. By contrast, Obama is arguing for instituting the Buffett Rule so that more money is available to pay for government programs.
As I have said before, if Obama really wants Warren Buffett’s secretary to pay the same rate as her boss, he should be advocating for a flat tax or the Fair Tax. Instead, he’s using class warfare to advocate increasing the legalized plunder of the bourgeoisie.
First, I loved your video on getting the newspaper editor to pay you for your blog article. Good for you. I also find infringement despicable, and the editor should’ve known better. How hard would it have been to ask your permission first? He was just trying to get out of paying, as are all the creeps who take images, etc and then try to play dumb when caught.
But I respectfully disagree w/your article here on taxes.
I’m not a fan of any president in my memory, (and I’m 55 yrs old, probably not quite as old as that newspaper editor though, so not nearly as ‘smart.’).
A flat tax ends up taxing the poor and middle class more, proportionately, because they have less disposable income. A million bucks taxed at 10% leaves the millionaire with a lot more to save, spend, invest, etc, than the person who pays 10% on $25,000, $50,000, and so on. I’m not against getting rich. I believe that the possibility to become rich, as long as you don’t cheat, should be there for all. And the rich should be able to enjoy the fruits of their labors. The operative condition though, is not to cheat. Cheating has become a way of doing business in this country, and those who have no aversion to it can become, have become, fabulously wealthy while at the same time holding out their hands for corporate welfare.
If this country won’t revoke corporate personhood, won’t take away the right of corporate special interests to run the govt by way of multi million dollar campaign contributions, then we are in sad shape. We could become a 3rd world country in another generation or two. I was doing news research in the early 2000s and came across FBI reports on white collar crime. They reported at that time that mortgage fraud would take out the economy, and that it was committed 80% of the time by industry insiders. No big co execs who did this went to prison. Some big corp’s paid fines to stop criminal investigations, but their CEO’s lives were not diminished in any way for perpetrating a big sham on the country. These corp’s were among those lobbying for ‘less big govt’ meaning, no oversight of their illegal acclivities and no way to hold them accountable. NOT about getting big govt out of OUR lives, just theirs. This needs to change; until the message is sent that even CEO’s go to jail, they will just pay a fine that affects them not one bit and go on doing it.
Absent the above changes, we need to at least tax the very wealthy at a higher rate, as their frauds cost the country and taxpayers their chance to rise, or even to survive financially. And even in an ideal world, I do not think there’s anything wrong with an incremental tax rate. It does need to be fair, but I think a lot of middle class and poor will find to their dismay, if they get it, that the flat rate means they pay more, not less.
Again, loved your vid on the copyright issue…so glad you got paid. The editor was hilarious.
Ugh, typo, not “acclivities” but “activities,” in “These corp’s were among those lobbying for ‘less big govt’ meaning, no oversight of their illegal activities and no way to hold them accountable.”
Also, when I wrote that no big corp. CEO’s paid for these crimes I meant exactly that. Numerous SMALL co CEO’s have; real estate and lending, and home building, all saw some of their members sentenced for criminal mortgage fraud, etc, after the burst of the bubble. But big corp’s did not. Many paid fines to HUD and other agencies, where the small co’s probably were unable to. I have no pity for either small or large corp’s who committed crimes.