President Obama has let us Democrats down. I can’t believe that I am saying this, but I regret that I worked so hard to get him elected. The tax compromise that the White House has ‘negotiated’ is shameful and irresponsible.
Obama has sealed his fate to be a one-term President. The Republicans were never going to vote for him, now the Democratic core of ‘prime voters’ distrust him. My prognosis is that Obama will not even get the nomination of the Democratic Party in 2012 — Hillary 2012.
The Ronald Reagan tax revolution was about lowering the top Federal tax rate to 50%. So supporting a rise in the top rate for those earning more than $250,000 per year to 40% is more conservative and regressive than the policy of the Great Conservative. Exempting the first $5 million of a decreased person’s estate from inheritance taxes is just plain stupid.
Obama should have stood up to the Republicans. He should have said, "bring on the filibuster. talk until you drop. but I am not compromising on the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the rich." 60% of the American public would have supported him, but he caved. The man is in too much of a hurry. To be a leader sometimes you have to take your time and dig in your heals.
Hillary should resign immediately and prepare for the 2012 primary.
The part of the tax cuts that really frustrates me is the inheritance tax provision. The dead should pay off the national debt, not the young. Afterall, the dead are the ones who racked up the national debt; young people had nothing to do with it.
My proposal for the inheritance tax would be to:
- recover from the dead person’s estate their portion of the national debt or $44,710.98 as of today.
- then recover the excess of the decreased individual’s social security payments over social security contributions
- then recover the excess of medicare payments over medicare contributions
The remainder would be taxed at the normal ordinary income tax rate of the inheritance recipient. This tax could be paid over a ten-year period with interest to lessen the one year impact.
This is perfectly fair and reasonable, yet no politician has ever suggested it.
Barack, if you read GroundReport, tell the nation that you have changed your mind. I would respect you for having the courage to flip-flop.