Posted on 02/25/2011 7:40:44 AM PST by econjack
What's the best way to get Americans back to work? Raise taxes, according to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. Specifically, he wants to raise the federal gas tax as a means to fund infrastructure spending. "We need a dedicated source of revenue to create infrastructure in this country," he tells Aaron Task in the accompanying clip. "We need to create jobs. The best way to do that is through infrastructure development." Simply maintaining the existing infrastructure in this country will cost $2.2 trillion over five years, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers. That doesn't include Obama's objective of high-speed rails and green energy projects. Trumka didn't say specifically how much he would raise the gas tax, but mentioned he's shown the President a $256 billion plan to improve infrastructure. If every billion spent on infrastructure creates 35,000 jobs, as he claims, this package would create close to 9 million jobs over the next five years. The idea would also improve America's fiscal and competitive future, says Trumka. "There's also a downstream effect, you put people back to work, they pay taxes, they don't use services, they're contributing, other jobs are created along the way as well," he explains. The White House isn't on-board with the plan. Trumka does have an unlikely supporter for higher gas taxes in the right-leaning Chamber of Commerce. However, the Chamber of Commerce does not support Trumka's other tax initiative: creating a financial transaction tax. An idea raised by Democrats during the Dodd-Frank bill debate, the transaction tax would charge financial institutions a minimal fee (less than a penny) for each trade they make. Trumka says that could raise another $100 billion in revenue without taking money out of the pockets of the middle class.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Does The AFL-CIO pay taxes?
I just can’t STAND it anymore!!!
This guy is SUCH an EEEEEDJIT!!!!!
Hey, Trumka? Gas has already gone up 25 cents in the last two days, you ass. We need a gas tax CUT, not an increase.
}:-)4
Tax the benefits of the public employee union worker that are over and above those earned by the private sector.
Who knew Trumka was a FReeper posting on econ threads here?
Except when those paying the taxes loose their job then the rest of the people paying taxes will get to pay more. Same old socialist mantra of spreading the wealth in a different way.
Even if he understood economics,
he’d still have the same agenda.
These guys really don’t care about “jobs” as much as they care about sucking as much life out of their fellow citizens as possible.
They’ll vote, every time, to keep all the benefits and payscales for the senior union members at the expense of jobs for less senior members.
These are make-work projects. Money taken from the people, filtered through govt agencies, and targeted at union jobs. And every hand that the money goes through takes a piece of the dough.
HE wants to? HE wants to raise taxes to fund "infrastructure" (read: unions). Interesting he thinks HE has the power to do this. Then again, we've always known who runs the Obama administration.
The Secretary/Treasurer of the AFL-CIO is Liz Shuler, Rep. Heath Shuler’s cousin. Am I the only one who sees a red flag?
This just goes to show how far gone these liberals, democrats, union leaders, they are.
Ask them for absolute proof of that claim and then watch them sputter, hem and haw trying to defend that position (they cant).
Liberals, democrats and union leaders are commies and they are also friggin nuts!
If Obama would open oil drilling back up here, the price per barrel would go down.
In another unrelated story, Mrs. Runninglips was griping the other day about the piddling $60K I was spending on household upkeep, food, clothing etc. She mentioned that if we just spent $130K over the next 5 years, the kids will prosper, the carpet will be improved, and of course the entire neighborhood will thrive.
Mr. Trumka, as a California driver who spends entirely more time than I care to think about in the car, on the freeways, burning gas, I have a two-word answer for you. The second word is “you”.
HE visits the White House a couple of times a week and is one of Zer0’s top advisors.
oh, PLEASE, Barry, take Richie’s advice with the cost per gallon shooting up towards $4
Translation: unions want a dedicated revenue source. It’s such a bother electing politicians.
Not to mention that there is already a gas tax that’s supposed to go into a highway fund.
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