Obama Is Raising Taxes—Not Cutting Them

US World and News Report ^ | 4/21/09 | Peter Roff

[pissant]

One of the more interesting things about blogging every day, as I do here for Thomas Jefferson Street, is the comments that people provide about what you write. It's a chance to get instant feedback.

On Monday, in my post dealing with Meghan McCain's advice to the Republican Party to be more moderate, I mentioned the close to 1 million, by some estimates, angry taxpayers who turned out for the April 15 Tax Day Tea Parties.

That produced a comment from a reader in New Jersey who asserted, "Voters aren't outraged over Obama high taxes, and aren't longing for Reagan's low taxes. In reality, taxes now are much lower than under Reagan, and Obama just lowered taxes for 95 percent of American taxpayers."

This was—it may come as little surprise—news to me, so I asked around to see if this was correct. It's not, at least according to what one Capitol Hill economist who walked me through the numbers said.

Federal revenue, as a share of the gross domestic product, is lower today (15.5 percent in Fiscal Year 2009) than under Reagan, but that is only because of the recession and the stimulus checks. "Revenue under Reagan bottomed out at 17.4 percent of GDP in FY '84," the economist told me, adding that "Obama hasn't cut taxes on anyone."

In fact, as I have written here before, the only tax change to go into effect thus far has been an increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes, whose impact falls heaviest on lower-income folks and violates a campaign pledge Obama made.

[pissant]

And he is just getting started....

[llevrok]

Obama and the governors tax policies remind me of the frog in the pot of boiling water analogy.

Slowly the water's temp is increasing. Most people don't feel it yet. Some of us thin skinned conservatives already do and see their hand reaching for the burner again.

[Seven plus One]

That '95%' talking point is starting to piss me off. It's everybody's first mindless rejoinder.

[Tublecane]

“Obama Is Raising Taxes—Not Cutting Them”

Duh

[Logical me]

Really doesn’t matter now. We are living under full blown communism and King Obama and his hired thugs will never be overthrown. He has the support of millions of lame sick Americans and they will never quit him. You can’t ask a freeloader to give up his handout. Many years of brainwashing in our schools and colleges and these nitwits would gladly put on the brown shirt for the power it gives them.

[pissant]

Obama is going to get tossed out on his marxist ears.

[goodnesswins]

I’m hoping you are correct.....but holding our breath till 2012 is REALLY TOUGH!!!

[goodnesswins]

tagline update

[uncommonsense]

Think about who's really paying the tax liability for all of America. It's not corporations - they pass the cost on to customers. It's not the roughly 50% of people who work for federal, state, or local government in some capacity. What ever is taken from their paycheck is really just forfeiting some of the wages we pay them. And it's not the lower half of privately employed wage earners since they don't pay taxes. So no corps, no 50% gov emps, and no lower 50% of private emps.

The tax burden rests totally on only 25% of wage earners - primarily the top 5% of the 25%. So most taxes are paid by 1% of wage earners. Feel good about your "fair share" and how much input you have in directing the monies?