Conservative
Type 40
Nice opinion piece from David Brooks...
Obama Rejects Obamaism
Obama Rejects Obamaism
I liked Obamas payroll tax cut ideas and urged Republicans to play along. But of course Im a sap. When the president unveiled the second half of his stimulus it became clear that this package has nothing to do with helping people right away or averting a double dip. This is a campaign marker, not a jobs bill.
He claimed we can afford future Medicare costs if we raise taxes on the rich. He repeated the old half-truth about millionaires not paying as much in taxes as their secretaries. (In reality, the top 10 percent of earners pay nearly 70 percent of all income taxes, according to the I.R.S. People in the richest 1 percent pay 31 percent of their income to the federal government while the average worker pays less than 14 percent, according to the Congressional Budget Office.)
That means when he talks about raising revenue, which he is right to do, he cant really talk about anything substantive. He cant tax gasoline. He cant tax consumption. He cant do a comprehensive tax reform. He has to restrict his tax policy changes to the top 2 percent, and to get any real revenue hes got to hit them in every which way. Were not going to simplify the tax code, but by God Obamas going to raise taxes on rich people who give to charity! Weve got to do something to reduce the awful philanthropy surplus plaguing this country!
We assign equal blame to both parties for the dysfunctional politics when in reality the Republicans are more rigid and extreme. Theres a lot of truth to that, but at least Republicans respect Americans enough to tell us what they really think. The White House gives moderates little morsels of hope, and then rips them from our mouths. To be an Obama admirer is to toggle from being uplifted to feeling used.