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EDITORIAL
Here come the taxes
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As the White House gears up to let the biggest tax hike in American history go into effect on Jan. 1, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Sunday that allowing big tax increases targeted at wealthy Americans is "the responsible thing to do" and will not further cripple the nation's economic growth.
"Just letting those tax cuts that only go to 2 percent to 3 percent of Americans, the highest-earning Americans in the country, expire, I do not believe it will have a negative effect on growth," while it would send an important message to the world about America's commitment to fiscal austerity, Mr. Geithner said on ABC.
And so the biggest-spending administration in the history of the world, an outfit that wouldn't even cut pork-barrel spending somewhere else to fund its unilateral extension of unemployment benefits last week, now smugly asserts a desire to protect its reputation for "fiscal austerity."
Because the planned Democratic tax hikes won't damage the economy. Really? Let's look at just one example:
Up in Seattle there's a high-tech business called GM Nameplate -- no relation to General Motors. The CEO, Donald Root, bought controlling interest in this manufacturer of graphic overlays, touch screens, brand identity nameplates and other machined components from the founding families in 1977. Under his leadership, GM Nameplate added plants around the United States as well as in Singapore and China, and grew to $80 million in annual revenue.
But Don Root is now 70, and he has Parkinson's disease. He'd like to turn over the business to his four sons, all of whom are involved in the company in some way.
Problem is, unless the elder Mr. Root takes things into his own hands and arranges to die by Dec. 31, the expiration of the Bush tax cuts will increase the federal death tax from today's "zero" rate to 55 percent, effective Jan. 1. Should Don Root die and leave his company to his children in 2011 or 2012, they estimate they'll owe $25 million in taxes on a business purchased and grown with after-tax income.
To get that amount of money, they'd almost certainly have to sell the company at a fire sale price.
Instead, according to Dick Patten, who runs the American Family Business Institute, lobbying against the death tax on behalf of America's millions of owners of small businesses and family farms, the Root family is now in discussions with a buyer who'd like to purchase GM Nameplate right now, at a market price. The only catch? The buyer wants to move the entire company -- with all its machine tools and all its jobs -- to Indonesia.
But returning to an environment of high estate taxes -- not to mention vast hikes in marginal income tax rates on investors perfectly free to move their operations offshore -- "won't cripple the nation's economic growth," Mr. Geithner?
If these tax hikes are imposed, "Businesses with narrow margins, they're going to go under," warns Steve Forbes, publishing magnate and two-time Republican presidential candidate, on CNN's "State of the Union." "Even entrepreneurs, people who are willing to buck the tide" are "very hesitant," he says, "because they don't know what kind of costs they're going to get hit with."
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I agree Steve Alexander. There has not be a real repug since Barry Goldwater. Of course the fake repugs were already entrenced in the party by Goldwater's time and ran him off. Reagon was no repug. Not in the truest sense. Oh wait, I've forgotten of Ron Paul. Now there is a true repug!
I don't hate "liberalslie." I hate idiots. He just happens to be one.
So we let the tax cuts expire and unemployment will go up by 5%. Obama will love it, pelosi will love it. The tax on the rich is a tax on all of us.
You don't even know how much in taxes you pay and they just went up. Health care, financial reform all have hidden taxes and regulations that make no sense unless you are trying to implode an economy. Well guess what this administration is trying to do.
The Committees that will write the regulations is making congress irrelevant.
If for some reason you think only the rich are going to get it, bend over you just took as well and you didn't even get kissed first.
Possibly Mr. Root could have set up a family trust years ago to shelter his business, but he didn't and it is too late now. No, he cannot sell his business to his sons for a dollar because of another tax on the rich, the Gift Tax. If you give anyone more than $10,000 in one fiscal year they are responsible for paying taxes on the money. That includes the value of items given. You gave your daughter a new car? She owes tax on the value over $10,000. Did she pay it? Probably not. You both got away with it for now, but giving away a multimillion company will not escape the claws of the IRS.
We don't hate Obama. We hate Marxists. He just happens to be one.
Your twisted logic is alarming and generates outrage in those Obama haters. You correctly estimate that the indignation you instigate will trump the actual truth, because of the gullibility of Obama Haters.
The actual fact is, Republicans enacted the "Tax Cuts for the Rich" (through "Reconciliation") with the agreement that they will expire this year. Republicans scheduled the end of this provision, effectively voting this "tax hike", 10 years ago. While all sane Americans realize that Republican's unpaid "Tax Cuts for the Rich" will add TRILLIONS to the deficit, only irrational Obama Haters will excuse exploding our deficit for the rich and vilify adding to the deficit for the unemployed.
And now the expiration of the wealthy tax cut made law by the Republicans is being called a Democrat Tax Hike. Now that's what I call "SPIN" In addition only Obama Haters could be against the largest tax cut for the middle class in history and favor tax cuts for the rich that will saddle our children for decades to come.
Ah, the "rational" republicans. Let me see if I got this straight, the Treasury Secretary didn't pay taxes so allowing the tax cuts to expire AS THE REPUBLICANS WROTE THEM TO WHEN THEY PASSED THEM, is Tim Geinter's "fault"? Clearly, these guys were "educated" in the government "indoctrination" camps we call public schools. Geesh.
Geithner feels that allowing big tax increases targeted at wealthy Americans is "the responsible thing to do" and will not further cripple the nation's economic growth. This from a man who cheated on his own taxes. LOL. Socialists like Geithner, Dashle and Kerry feel that the tax laws don't apply to them. In their world taxes are only something you pay when you get caught.
@odj-
So, in your world, does wealthy = crooked?
Working hard and being successful is still a concept BO can't get his mind around. He would rather redistribute the wealth than cut spending.