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Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Donald Lambro :: Townhall.com Columnist
Tax Hikes Threaten Main Street
by Donald Lambro
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WASHINGTON -- President Obama's big-spending 2010 budget is filled with tax provisions that will stunt economic growth, job creation and new-business formation.

It's bad enough that his soak-the-rich tax increases will have a negative impact on ordinary workers, but worst of all, he'll raise them when the U.S. economy will still be in a recession or in the difficult process of attempting to climb out of one.

He intends to keep all of the Bush tax cuts except the two top tax rates, which he will let expire at the end of 2010, one year after the White House says the economy will have shrunk by at least 1.2 percent and likely a lot more. This means that coming out of a recessionary 2009, when the Federal Reserve forecasts unemployment will shoot to 9 percent or more, Obama will be raising taxes on investors and small businesses -- the very people who create jobs.

This will be the bleak result of letting the two top income tax rates rise in January 2011: from 33 percent to 36 percent and from 35 percent to 39.6 percent, or more than 40 percent when state taxes are added. But how does this impact ordinary Americans?

"According to Internal Revenue Service data, half of all business income is taxed at individual rather than corporate tax rates, and about two-thirds of all flow-through business income is earned by small-business owners with annual incomes exceeding $200,000," said economic adviser Cesar Conda.

"The bottom line: Up to one-third of all business income is taxed at the two marginal rates Obama wants to raise," Conda told his business clients.

With the unemployment rate at 7.6 percent, the highest in 16 years, this is no time to raise taxes on small businesses, the engine of job growth in the country. Or even telegraphing that he intends to do this at this end of the year.

"President Obama may propose tax hikes not take effect until 2011, but the fact is they already are depressing economic activity in the middle of the recession," said Alison Acosta Fraser, director of the Heritage Foundation's Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies.

"Facing higher future taxes, businesses, investors and savers reduce their activities today," she said in a recent study.

But Obama's demands for more tax revenue don't stop there. He wants a 2 percent to 4 percent payroll tax surcharge on taxpayers earning more than $250,000 to boost Social Security surpluses (which the government spends). And he wants to restrict the itemized tax deductions for this same group of taxpayers, which would push their income tax rate up by another 7 points.

Then there are Obama's rosy economic-growth projections next year that have raised eyebrows among many economists who think we are in for a period of slow growth coming out of this recession, especially if his draconian tax hikes are enacted.

In a cook-the-books effort to boost future revenue numbers to make it look as if he will cut the deficit in half, his budget predicts the economy will grow by an astounding 3.2 percent in 2010, followed by an even stronger 4 percent growth in 2011, 4.6 percent in 2012 and 4.2 percent in 2013.

In reality, the consensus forecast by Blue Chip Economic Indicators last month predicted the gross domestic product would fall by nearly 2 percent this year, and rise by an anemic 2 percent in 2010, and about 2.9 percent in 2011 and slightly less thereafter.

Economic forecasters foresee the economy rebounding in a U-shape rather than a V-shape. "I think this downturn is going to last longer, and the rebound will be fairly anemic," California State University economics professor Sung Won Sohn told the Associated Press.

The sharp downturn in the fourth quarter deepened the recessionary outlook for the foreseeable future. In a letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, legendary investor Warren Buffett wrote, "The economy will be in shambles throughout 2009 -- and, for that matter, probably well beyond."

It is in the realm of possibility that the economy will be making a comeback of sorts in 2010, but it will probably be in the recovery stages for sometime to come. This means the economy will need all its oars in the water pulling at the same time, and that means lower tax rates across the board and postponing any large, costly social programs like healthcare reform until the economy is on solid footing.

Even Democrats in Congress are complaining about Obama's budget proposals.

Senate Budget Committee chairman Kent Conrad, Democrat of North Dakota, has been one of the chief critics. "I am concerned about the long-term buildup of debt," he said last week. He also doesn't like some of the president's tax increases on wealthier Americans, such as cutbacks for tax deductions for charitable contributions. "I would put that high on the list of things that will be given a thorough scrubbing and may well not survive."

So it's not just Wall Street that has given Obama's economic policies a huge vote of no confidence. Democrats are having their doubts, too.

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About The Author

Donald Lambro is chief political correspondent for The Washington Times.

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The top 5% = Mainstreet?
What are you talking about?!? Do conservatives even try to sound rational anymore? Maybe this is why you are a regional party who has marginal say on legislation now. Keep it up. Most people dont live in the alternate reality you seem to dwell in.

OBAMA STREET
GET WITH THE PROGRAM EVERYTHING IS NAMED AFTER OBAMA IN OBAMANATION. AS SOON AS THEY RENAME WALL STREET BARACK DRIVE THE MARKET WILL CLIMB BACK TO WHERE IT WAS BEFORE THE ARROGANT ONE WAS ELECTED TO OFFICE.

Fair Share


Asking the rich who have been the beneficiaries of Republican tax cuts to pay their fair share seems quite sane to me. Hedge fund managers paying only 15% on their millions in capital gains is unfair and you and I both know it. The only redistribution of wealth that has been going on is from the rest of us to the rich.

Small business will suffer
I totally agree with what Mr. Lambro is saying. I am continually surprised at how ignorant people are about how business works. As someone who owned a small business for many years, I certainly understand that the policies Mr. Obama is putting in place will hurt. Small businesses will stop hiring... why is that so difficult to understand.

Stimulus that will work
We the people pay all taxes, and we are the only ultimate source of all tax revenue. Regardless where government initially collects the money, all tax money ultimately comes from us, the people.
Since we the people are the one and only source of all tax revenue:
There should be only one tax to collect all tax revenue.
It should be a single, simple, fair, direct, graduated, individual, full-income tax levied on living persons for each level of government: One Tax and Done.
You cannot convince a person or a corporation to start a new business or expand an existing business, increase jobs, and hire new employees, when you tax away the operating capitol he is using to operate his PRESENT business
The best thing that government can do to help the country, the people, and even government, is to repeal all of the many hundreds, or thousands of existing taxes, fees, and charges. These taxes are the federal deficit. These taxes are the high price of everything. These tax eliminations are spending cuts. Every tax that is eliminated is a tax that we the people no longer have to pay. These taxes are the difference between the price we pay for health care and everything else, and the price we would pay if these taxes were repealed. Eliminating these taxes will remove them from the price paid for everything by everyone.
One Tax and Done will provide many benefits to all, even government:
One Tax and Done will reduce the price paid for everything by one-third.

All the rich people
together do not have enough money to pay Odumbo's budget. After he confiscates all of it, there won't be any rich people's money for next year's budget. He'll be back for everybody's elses money then.

Where Does Main St. Get Money?
Right, from those who aren't there. As noted, 66% of small businesses, your "Main Street" make over $250k a year, money that needs to be held back to pay taxes as they can't tie it up in other assets anymore, like expanding product lines or more employees. They aren't "Main Street" then. So where do you collect your salary to spend money on an Internet to spew uneducated junk at TH? That's right, not Main St. as defined by you guys. If they have less, you have less. Simple as that.

Reagan raised taxes in a worse situation
Reagan raised taxes in the US in 1983 when the unemployment rate was over 9%. This included a hike in the tax on gasoline. Again in 1984 he raised taxes on businesses (50 billion over 3 years) when the unemployment rate was higher than now. In 1986 when the unemployment rate was similar to now, Reagan signed into law a change in the tax laws that took away the tax deduction for individual for interest on credit cards. This also phased out the same deduction for businesses.

By the way several people seem to think that small businesses earning over 250K will have an increase in tax relating to the employee payroll. However, this I believe the Obama plan would increase the tax only against taxable income which is determined after expenses are deducted. Much depends on the status of a business, ie if it is a C or S corporation, partnership or LLC. For most corporations, LLC, etc. I believe employee salaries are treated as expenses and are not taxable under the Obama proposed plan.
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