Obama’s Scary Hoover-Style Tax Hikes

Fox News/ The Fox Forum ^ | Phil Kerpen

[Delacon]

The composition of the tax hikes in the 2010 budget is frighteningly similar to the Revenue Act of 1932, the much-maligned Hoover tax hikes that put the “Great” in Great Depression by putting an enormous tax burden on millions of Americans, largely through excise taxes. These taxes, raised even further by FDR, were justified by the promise that the funds would be returned in the form of relief programs, which is to say that some portion of the tax revenue, after administrative costs in Washington, would go back to the states with strings attached, often to further political rather than economic objectives.

As the table below shows, the Obama budget blueprint, like the 1932 act, is split mainly between broad excise taxes and income tax hikes on high income earners. Unfortunately, there were no 10-years projections back then, so I had to use one year numbers, but it’s still an interesting comparison.

Courtesy Phil Kerpen

The 2010 budget assumes, probably correctly, that the only way to generate a big revenue increase in the face of severe economic weakness is to use a tax mechanism–the excise tax–that is collected in relatively small increments across millions of transactions made by Americans of all income levels. That is a direct lesson of 1932, when the income tax on the rich–then the only people who paid income taxes–was raised to capture as much revenue as possible before high-income earners fled the country or stopped working. Then, as now, that amount was about 0.3 percent of GDP.

[Delacon]

Despite President Obama’s promise that “If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increase a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime,” his new budget raises 45 percent of its revenue from energy taxes that will be paid by everyone who fills a gas tank, pays an electric bill, or buys anything that was grown, shipped, or manufactured.

[Delacon]

ping

[xcamel]

Obama has singlehandedly destroyed TEN TRILLION in global wealth.
How’s all that “Hope and Change” working out, eh?

[DonaldC]

Actually, we need to paint the entire democratic party as the looser of $10 trillion dollars.

[WHBates]

People were expecting something different? Throughout my working life if I’ve learned one thing well and it is when they go after the rich they mean me and I’m just a little guy that makes a good living but don’t even come close the the numbers that they claim is the “rich” they are targeting. It’s really getting old.

[WHBates]

Do you get a feeling that anyone is paying attention or cares?

[Venturer]

Add to the energyu taxes the Cap and trade tax and the health care money he is gathering prior to the bil passing and we are going to go broke.

Personally I think that is what the Muslim wants.

[nascarnation]

I’m recently retired.
Of course since my Congressman Andre Carson (Muslim, IN) said he’d make Social Security “safe for seniors” I’ve got nothing to worry about...right?

[Delacon]

“I’m recently retired.
Of course since my Congressman Andre Carson (Muslim, IN) said he’d make Social Security “safe for seniors” I’ve got nothing to worry about...right”?

You are golden.......unless you have children or grandkids and care about them.

[LibFreeOrDie]

In addition to what the Dems are doing at the Federal level, the states are falling all over themselves to add more of their own taxes and fees.

[Gabrial]

This penalizes those that can least afford it.

Obama may lose his base over this.