[Insert audible groan here.] Judging by the complete lack of new, ingenious, or even free-market-respecting thinking we saw from the President when he so magnanimously introduced us to his 'American Jobs Act,' his latest deficit-reduction package (to be fully unveiled Monday) includes a rather underwhelming (but still painfully tedious) idea. Bloomberg reports:
President Barack Obama will propose a new levy on U.S. taxpayers making more than $1 million to help trim the nation’s debt, adopting a suggestion from billionaire investor Warren Buffett, according to an administration official.
The tax will be among recommendations the president makes to a special congressional committee charged with finding ways to cut $1.5 trillion from the nation’s long-term deficit, according to the official who wasn’t authorized to speak on the record. Obama is set to unveil his deficit-cutting proposals tomorrow.
The president hasn’t settled on the top earners’ new minimum tax rate, which is designed to make sure the wealthiest taxpayers don’t pay a lower effective rate than middle-income earners, the official said. Obama has already proposed limiting some deductions for those in the highest income brackets, taxing carried interest as regular income and ending breaks for gas and oil companies to pay for a $447 billion jobs package.
I find it truly discomfitting that so many people still seem to not realize that an end to tax breaks (read: tax hikes) on gas and oil companies and big corporations translates into nothing more than a tax hike on normal individuals. Do they think that these companies just steal cash off of small children or something? Because companies make their money off of you, the willing consumer, and if the company's costs go up, so will the price for the consumer. As for more taxes on anyone making more than one million dollars, take it away, Rep. Paul Ryan.