Obama/GOP Lying about Taxes. Filibuster Their Plan!
We don't need no stinking tax cuts! The rich certainly don't. In this episode, I point out the folly of arguing over the rich paying 3% more for their income tax when the bulk of their income is from capital gains, taxed at 15%, far less than the middle class pay. Obama has in the past, called for an even deeper capital gains tax rate, just like Ronald Reagan. I think this is the lowest point of Obama's administration.
I also go through a few responses to blog posts.
| Download | Duration: 01:29:13
Well Jeff I'm glad to see that you have finallycome over to my side of the argument. I've been seeing these kind of behavior patterns for long enough to understand that many of the Democrats are just Republican-Lite. Less outwardly hateful, but still just a insidious or if you want to give them the benefit of the doubt icompotent. There is a quote I remember hearing on the Progressive Forum. "If several policies act in collusion to produce a specific result. It can be assumed that these results were intentional. If the actors perpetrating these policies benefited this assumption will most likely be factual." Thats how I feel about Obama. It seems to me that while he has tried to stop the 1 or 2 of the Bush policies for the most part he has continued, renamed and rebranded the rest. It took some time for you to realize he's not just doing what can he is actively doing the opposite of whats needed probably because he does not believe in the same things we believe.
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But there is still no go on voting Republican or not voting Democrat.. Green party is out of the question for me now except for local races where they might win.
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Jeff,
I like your podcast a lot. You see what's going on in a unique way. But, lets be real. Fighting for the Left is a war that was lost long ago. This country has a certain belief in its heart that's never going to change: Greed. It's what they mean when they talk about "liberty" and "freedom." President Obama knows this....yet, he does not have political allies with the political/rhetorical heft to do battle with the forces alied against him. Democrats have been checkmated, pure and simple. President Obama, on the other, justcompleted a masterstroke.
Here are my points:
-President Obama is just doing what every Dem President must do: Separate him (or her) self from his "tax and spend" party.
-I heard Chris Matthews say that President Obama is the most liberal person to be elected President since Kennedy.
I believe he is the most liberal person that CAN be elected President.
- Clinton only got a second term b/c he was a "son of the south."
- Otherwise, a democrat must make a strong, conservative play for certain elements of the American electorate.
- To this certain element, nothing President Obama does will ever be deemed "conservative." So, after a year of "half measures," most of which were GOP, he was cornered into going "whole hog." No one can call him a socialist after this tax deal.
Think about it. This will make President Obama the ONLY Democratic President to get credit for giving Americans a major tax cut since JFK.
Look at the alternate:
1. Tax rates go up for everyone, breaking a central campaign promise.
2. The GOP willcome back with a worse deal after it takes over the House in January.
--For those who think the GOP would never deny unemployment should remember how they just short-circuited the "recover summer" by denying the "99ers."
--Guess what they'll be willing to do to the economy to get the Presidency back?
--Remember how President Obama swamped everyone in campaign funds? Well, those wealthy donors (bundlers) AND the corporations (who will be able to spend in the next election) that sat on its profits to squeeze him into making their tax cuts permanent.
That's some serious firepower aligned against him. Instead, you do the tax cut for 2 years, drawing independents back, and putting the "tax cuts as stimulus/job creator" orthodoxy on trial.
President Obama is splitting his 1st term into two halves:
First two years were based on the Democrats "Keynesian" stimulus orthodoxy.
=====Result? Dow went from 6,700 -to-11,000. More jobs created in first two years than Bush's entire eight years.
--Allows Democrats room to trade top level tax cuts for unemployment to include "99ers"/extend from 13 months to 24 months.
--Include most important tax cuts (that we didn't notice) from the Democrats first stimulus, and you have a second stimulus, this one bi-partisan.
-GOP will again (just like in 2008)have to defend its economic orthodoxy based on next 2 yrs going into 2012! Defending W. again!
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Thanks for a long and insightful podcast. I admit that I reluctantly supported President Obama's tax deal with the Republicans for pragmatic and political reasons though everything you said (and what Olbermann) said makes sense. Keeping all of the Bush Tax cuts certainly wasn't the preferable option, however not enough people understand the situation as well as people like you, Olbermann, Maddow, et. al and my concern was that if the package went down in flames and nothing got passed, Obama would get the blame politically for all of the tax cuts expiring and, more importantly, that the tax cut legislation worked out by the icoming Republican Tea Party-driven Congress would end up being MUCH MUCH worse and would not include ANY benefits for the unemployed. Remember, there were some Republicans whom didn't like the deal either because they didn't like the extension of the unemployment benefits. It was a crummy deal to be sure but Obama is NOT going to have the same kind of leverage with which to deal during this new Congress. I think that he saw this as "necessary evil" and not something he joyfully signed. Hopefully, he will be in a stronger political position in 2012 and can handle the issue better then. I do believe that had he been able to get a Tax Cut plan through that extended it for just the lower-middle passed, he'd have gladly signed that instead. Keep up the great work and I hope to hear a podcast about the ucoming push by the GOP to repeal the new Health Care Law. That should make for some good ranting.
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Hey Jeff! I miss your show and hope that you will be doing some more podcasts soon! Hope all is well!
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I'll be uploading another today!
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Wealthy CEOs, hedge fund mangers, bankers, and other "investors" can hold billions of dollars in stocks for 5 years and only pay a 5% long-term capital gains tax (or 15% if sold between 1 and 5 years). Less than one year is taxed as regular icome. The Republicans want to eliminate this taxcompletely.
http://bud-meyers.blogspotcom/2011/09/corporate-bullies-and-their.html
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And Joe Blow republican is right along with them.
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