GOP Needs to Stand Tall, Call Obama’s Bluff & Let All Bush Tax Cuts Expire

President Obama’s offer to Republicans to save the country from its fiscal cliff plunge is one big joke. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he “laughed” when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, Obama’s cliff negotiator, unveiled it to him. Laughable is right when you consider the president’s outlandish request calls for tax hikes on higher earners, the one thing Republicans repeatedly have warned Obama, since day one of his presidency, were non-starters to any budget or deficit reduction talks.

Nevertheless, our “unserious” Commander-in-Chief put forth a deal to grab headlines rather than avert the January 1, 2013 sequestration deadline of $1.2 million in automatic spending cuts and tax increases, which include the expiration of ALL the Bush tax cuts. The president’s plan demands $1.6 trillion in tax hikes over 10 years on higher earners, which includes small business owners also known as job creators! This includes $1 trillion by ending the Bush tax cuts for the “rich,” which includes the estate tax and hitting this group again with $600 million more in tax hikes next year. Big GULP! Obama’s philosophy is “you can never tax rich too much.” They should just keep on earning and paying for Obama’s government largess.

But let’s get something straight, a married couple, who also may be small business owners and/or have kids, making $250,000, isn’t rich and they shouldn’t pay nearly 40% of their hard earned income in federal taxes. Obama wants their tax rate to go from 35% to 39.6% and leave the rates for everyone else lower. A single person’s who may be a small business owner, making $200,000 would see their rate rise from 33% to 35%. People who earn more money don’t do it by sitting on their butts all day so others can be rewarded with lower tax rates. Apparently, President Obama won’t be satisfied until higher earners are indentured servants to the state, paying 100% of their income in federal taxes.

The nation's top 10% of earners pay 70% of all federal income taxes, the top 2% pay about 50% of all federal income taxes and nearly half of Americans pay no federal income. We can see who pays their fair share.