Obama: Not Raising Taxes is a Form of Government Spending

Stephanie

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Jul 11, 2004
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holy smokes..

SNIP:
By Fred Lucas
February 13, 2012
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President Obama speaks about his 2013 budget proposals and the "Community College to Career Fund" at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Va. on Monday, Feb. 13, 2012 (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

(CNSNews.com) – Announcing his budget plans for fiscal year 2013 in an address at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Va., President Barack Obama characterized the current income tax rates--signed into law by President Bush a decade ago--as a form of government spending.

Essentially, the president said that the federal government "spends" when it does not raise taxes.

“Right now, we’re scheduled to spend more than $1 trillion more on what was intended to be a temporary tax cut for the wealthiest two percent of Americans,” Obama said. “We’ve already spent about that much. Now we’re expected to spend another $1 trillion. Keep in mind, a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than millions of middle class households. You’ve heard me say it: Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.”

Despite the bankruptcies of three green energy companies that received heavy doses of federal tax dollars, Obama also pledged Monday to “double down on clean energy.”

The budget proposal faces an uncertain future on Capitol Hill. Democrats, who control the Senate, have said it is not necessary to vote on a budget for next year. Republicans, who control the House, have criticized the Obama budget, saying it contains too many tax hikes and not enough spending cuts.

Obama said his tax and spending plan would save $4 trillion by 2022. However, the budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, projects a $1.33 trillion deficit, marking a fourth consecutive year of trillion-dollar deficits. The president’s plan projects that the deficit would drop to $901 billion in 2013, and to $575 billion by 2018.

the rest, a video, AND LOTS OF COMMENTS.
Obama: Not Raising Taxes is a Form of Government Spending | CNSnews.com
 
Keeping taxes low when they are due be raised and tax cuts are spending. They have the exact same effect on the bottom line as spending money, you thought otherwise?
 
It's true, because if tax cuts aren't accompanied by spending cuts, the lost revenue that would have paid for the spending is made up for by borrowing.
 
The thing is, the money does not belong to the government. It belongs to the people. The government takes money from people to do important and useful stuff, but the money left in their pockets in no way counts as spending by the government
 
The thing is, the money does not belong to the government. It belongs to the people. The government takes money from people to do important and useful stuff, but the money left is their pockets in now way counts as spending by the government

When we are talking about the budget deficit specifically, when the government acts to cut taxes that would have otherwise been paid, it is spending. It's like taking an unpaid day off work, it still costs.
 
“Right now, we’re scheduled to spend more than $1 trillion more on what was intended to be a temporary tax cut for the wealthiest two percent of Americans,” Obama said. “We’ve already spent about that much. Now we’re expected to spend another $1 trillion. Keep in mind, a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than millions of middle class households. You’ve heard me say it: Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.”


obamas whole statement there is grade A shit. its the cheapest scummiest form of populism there is, I don't care who does it and when...the buffett thing especially is just insulting....

but his mentors have taught him well;tell a lie long enough and it will become perceived as 'truth'.

remember; the big lie is much more effective than the little lie...
 
“Right now, we’re scheduled to spend more than $1 trillion more on what was intended to be a temporary tax cut for the wealthiest two percent of Americans,” Obama said. “We’ve already spent about that much. Now we’re expected to spend another $1 trillion. Keep in mind, a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than millions of middle class households. You’ve heard me say it: Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.”


obamas whole statement there is grade A shit. its the cheapest scummiest form of populism there is, I don't care who does it and when...the buffett thing especially is just insulting....

but his mentors have taught him well;tell a lie long enough and it will become perceived as 'truth'.

remember; the big lie is much more effective than the little lie...

EXACTLY what part is untrue? How is it untrue.

EXACTLY. SPECIFICALLY.

And, please post something besides your opinion to back up - well, YOUR opinion.

Thanks.

p.s. Have you looked at your own tax rate?
 
they pay lower tax RATES becasue they receive different forms of compensation harriet.

and,

t for the wealthiest two percent of Americans,

hello, ever heard of the 10% bracket? created by who, for who?


annnnnd his secretary makes over 200k a year easy, putting her firmly in that evil rich bracket BUT shes an object of sympathy now too? get bent.


MY tax rate is same as buffets AND the sec's.....and so to would yours if you had a job.....
 
The assumption of the former community agitator is that all money belongs to the federal government and they only let us use it for a little while. The money that they fail to confiscate through taxation actually belongs to them so if they don't grab it it is equivalent (in their mind) to a spending spree. To "ass-u-m-e...makes an ass of u and me.
 
Well, that is the theory. We get air craft carriers and we gut studies on the love life of newts. The way it is spent shows that they really don't understand where it came from.
 
Keeping taxes low when they are due be raised and tax cuts are spending.

Clearly someone never went to college.

It's amazing how you people suck up every lie that comes out of that man's mouth. Truly pathetic.

Just how is it a lie? Please explain in detail.

I shouldn't have to explain second grade education to you. If you are truly that stupid there is nothing I can say to help you. Get bent.
 
Well, that is the theory. We get air craft carriers and we gut studies on the love life of newts. The way it is spent shows that they really don't understand where it came from.

68% of the federal budget is Social Security, Medicare, and defense.

Which of those do you want to cut?
 
I hate to agree with him, but he's right in theory. Since 1971, reducing taxes = higher government spending while raising taxes = cutting government spending. This is because government spending precedes taxation; taxes are only needed to regulate consumer demand and control inflation. In a floating fiat monetary system monopolized by sovereign government, neither taxes nor borrowing are needed to finance government spending.

I'm not saying this is an ideal economic system. It is, however, reality; the Faustian arrangement established by Nixon and eagerly maintained by every administration since.
 
Keeping taxes low when they are due be raised and tax cuts are spending.

Clearly someone never went to college.

It's amazing how you people suck up every lie that comes out of that man's mouth. Truly pathetic.

Just how is it a lie? Please explain in detail.

The money NOT taken in taxes is NOT Government money, no matter what the rates are. The ONLY way one can claim that a tax cut is Government spending is if one ASSUMES ALL money belongs to the Government. PRETTY DAMN SIMPLE CONCEPT, I think even an 8 year old could grasp it.
 
Well, that is the theory. We get air craft carriers and we gut studies on the love life of newts. The way it is spent shows that they really don't understand where it came from.

68% of the federal budget is Social Security, Medicare, and defense.

Which of those do you want to cut?

Defense is less then 20 percent. Cut social programs they are Unconstitutional any way. Defense spending though is CLEARLY mentioned in the Constitution as one of the few powers the Government can tax for.
 
I understand why people consider the distinction between tax cuts and government programs important. However, Obama's phrasing is perfectly clear and accurate. While it's not entirely neutral, it's certainly not inflammatory either.

Consider the common definition of spend (dictionary.com): to pay out, disburse, or expend; dispose of

Tax cuts are certainly money expended and disposed of (from the perspective of the government). The Bush tax cuts in particular were tax cuts that were paid and and disbursed: checks were mailed out to millions of Americans. Obama's phrasing is also in keeping with standard macroeconomic language: deficit spending refers not merely to policies involving expenditures but to the difference between expenditures and revenues (ie, taxes). In general, the study of fiscal policy recognizes that spending and revenues are fundamentally linked.

Baruch argued that the difference between a tax cut and spending in a government program is that

the money does not belong to the government. It belongs to the people.

This is a sentiment that, if taken literally (and I doubt this is how Baruch intended it), seems to suggest that taxes are inherently illegitimate in all circumstances. That is a notion that I've seen many times on this forum, and one that I still cannot fathom. To suggest that the government has no right to collect taxes or to hold assets is contrary to the law and to our constitution. It flies in the face of our culture and our history. It ignores the legitimacy of our democratically elected representatives. It's a pernicious concept that justifies destroying even the most worthwhile of government programs on the grounds that their method of funding is immoral.
 

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