Business

‘We Don’t Need More Top-Down Economics’: Obama Pushes for Extension of Bush-Era Tax Cuts (With Some Caveats)

We Dont Need More Top Down Economics: President Obama Says We Should Extend Bush Era Tax Cuts But Only For People Making Less Than $250,000President Barack Obama announced on Monday that he will call on Congress to pass a one-year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts  — but only for households making less than $250,000 a year.

“I believe it is time to let the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, folks like myself, to expire,” the president said. “Anyone making over $250,000 a year should go back to the income tax rates we were paying under Bill Clinton.”

“And this is not just my opinion. The American people are with me on this,” he added.

While some praise the president’s call to Congress as a move towards “tax fairness,” others see it as a clever election-year gimmick intended to shift the discussion away from other pressing issues,
including high unemployment and weak consumer spending.

“We’ve tried it their way,” President Obama said, referring to the economic policies of the early 2000s.

“It didn’t work. At the beginning of the last decade, Congress passed trillions of dollars in tax cuts that benefited the wealthiest Americans more than anybody else. And we were told that it would lead to more jobs and higher incomes for everybody and prosperity would start at the top but then trickle down.”

“The wealthy got wealthier but most American struggled,” he said. “We don’t need more top-down economics.”

The president’s GOP rival Mitt Romney has called for an extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for everyone. Team Obama will most likely use today’s announcement to further the narrative that because the former Massachusetts governor wants to extend the tax cuts for everyone including those earning over $250,000 a year, he is ultra-wealthy and, therefore, “out of touch.”

“My opponent will fight to keep them in place,” the president said referring to tax cuts for Americans earning over $250,000, “I will fight to end them.”

This story has been updated.

Comments (98)

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  • Detroit paperboy
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:15pm

    I seriously doubt that the 350 lb female gorilla in front of me at the grocery store using her food stamp card, is PAYING HER FAIR SHARE……..

    Report Post »  
    • woodyee
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:24pm

      A Man-on-a-Mission –

      Where’s the racism?
      Unless, of course, YOU were thinking that…hoohaa…

      Report Post » woodyee  
    • Detroit paperboy
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:30pm

      Man on a mission, your the racist. I never said anything about her race, only her size….. But thats all you leftys ever look at, race, gender, sexual orientation, it takes a racist to point out race…….

      Report Post »  
    • seeker9
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:41pm

      Shouldn’ the “we cannot afford” come BEFORE the money is spent? And why is a tax rate for $250K and over “spending”? I think he has read (maybe authored) the Little Blue Book.

      Report Post » seeker9  
    • AvengerK
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:43pm

      My instinct tells me this latest attempt at a sound byte masquerading as tax policy will have no traction with the American people in November. This has gone way beyond “fair share” and “tax the rich”..the American people need jobs, they need certainty not one year exceptions to tax rates for some votes.
      This will backfire on Obama.

      Report Post »  
    • seeker9
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 2:03pm

      So if we are in a sluggish recovery, keep middle class rates where they are and increase the rest and that will be good for the economy??? The middle class won’t have any more money to spend.
      What didn’t work in the economy was the progressive attempt to make more people home owners with easy loans (lots of other people qualified for them) they could’t afford. A failed attempt to raise all boats. The unemployment rate, until the collapse, was 5-6% for most of the time. Sounds awfully good now.

      Report Post » seeker9  
    • booger71
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 2:17pm

      They are the current tax rates and have been for almost 10 years, if you want to raise taxes Barry then just say so

      Report Post » booger71  
    • Verceofreason
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 7:16pm

      Hey Bristol is shopping for two.

      Report Post » Verceofreason  
    • VoteBushIn12
      Posted on July 10, 2012 at 7:42am

      Well if she barely has enough money to pay for her own food how can you expect her to pay taxes? Please tell me you’ve thought about this…

      Report Post » VoteBushIn12  
  • mikewooten
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:13pm

    Soo, when is the expiration date for calling something the “Bush Tax Cuts”…aren’t they the current “tax rates”?

    Sooo…you are cutting expenses by how much? Oh, you aren’t? I see.

    Ok, so, if you can guarantee me that there is zero fraud and waste in the federal government, that every single dollar goes to support the federal government exercising it’s enumerated powers and you will cease devaluing the dollar with phony paper money printing, then MAYBE…MAYBE you can come and talk to me about tax reform…otherwise you can (fill in the blank here).

    When oh when are these alleged economists with their pedigrees, who have never actually PARTICIPATED in operating a business, making a payroll and doing all the things that define the economy going to wake up and realize that the government IS the problem. An organic economy consists of a buyer and a seller…any third party involvement effects the price and the federal government is the pollutant. Examples?? They abound.

    Sending additional money to DC is likened to the Jack Daniel’s truck visiting an AA meeting.

    This is truly amazing.

    Report Post »  
    • Dragonfire
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 8:42pm

      Come on, Mike, think with your heart. How dare you use logic on those that feel they are intellectually superior. They will acuse you of not playing fair. They want their “participation trophy” at least.

      Report Post »  
  • voicecheck1
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:08pm

    is It true that 90% of small buisiness make less than $250,000 ?

    Report Post »  
    • Capitalist Mama
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 2:07pm

      I would say no.

      Small business owners may make less than $250k, but if you file your taxes a certain way (as a pass through entity in an LLC) it appears you make $250k before deductions. For example, a single owner LLC can say that all the revenue from the business is his income, and then subtract legitimate deductions from that. And that owner will pay MUCH more in taxes than if s/he files business taxes, gives him/herself a salary and pays taxes on that.

      The problem is the tax code is HUGE.

      Report Post »  
  • woodyee
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:08pm

    @ John Larson – Where’d you learn your economics?

    If the rich don’t spend (invest) their money, there aren’t many jobs available for everyone else. LOOK around your hometown; Many of the poor are unemployed and too many of them are living off of what gobblement steals from the next tier up – the middle class. The middle class is employed by wealthy individuals and corporations and too many are employed by gobblement; the rest are slef-employed. They ALL have one common enemy –

    The US gobblements Tax system; and the US gobblement wields the tax system as a weapon to MAKE you do things you may not want to (Obammy-care), to do things THEY want you to, and as a weapon of mass destruction – divide and conquer the populace with class-envy – create massive bureaucracies to ensure compliance with gobblement wishes – to destroy patriotism by tying education funds to gobblement educational goals. I could go on, but you get the point.

    Report Post » woodyee  
  • SPOT_OF_TEA
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:08pm

    If bottom up economics works,why is there any poverty in the world?I dont know whats more scarey right now…..Whether the 47% of Obama‘s supporters actually believe what he’s is saying or if they know he’s lying and they hope he can get away with the lie until he acquires enough power to tramsform the country by draining the wealth from the private sector…..These idiots think the free food stamps and welfare/unemployment checks is the norm in Obamaville…..The shocking reality will set in for these fools after their votes are no longer needed.

    Report Post » SPOT_OF_TEA  
  • mersey
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:02pm

    I can‘t think of one instance where ’trickle up poverty’ has worked. I don’t know of any poor business owners who hire job seekers. Anyone who now pays any Federal Income Tax at all is probably against any tax increases at all, but those who pay no Federal Income Tax at all will be all for raising taxes on ‘the rich’.

    Report Post » mersey  
    • Verceofreason
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 7:18pm

      Or trickle down, so what’s your point.
      I think 30 years is long enough for an experiment.

      Report Post » Verceofreason  
    • yiska8
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 9:15pm

      Nothing broken is being fixed. Even if you pay no taxes, you’re paying into a broken system that those still employed under 45 years of age will probably never partake of. It’s like forcing a large woman into a size 2 dress. It’s next to impossible. Obamacare is just another way to tax all of us and make more money for the insurance agencies and unions. Quality is not there in the American medical industry unless you have the means to have it. Yes, you can be seen anywhere and hopefully get adequate care, but with this law being upheld, many supporters think nothing will change, but it will. It will not be overturned because King Barry will be re-elected. Obama just came in office and crushed every industry and has his shiny designer shoes on our neck and likes to step down harder every single day. 10 years ago, no one would have believed any of this could happen. Unfortunately, this isn’t a Tom Clancy novel. It’s all too real. Lord be with us.

      Report Post » yiska8  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:00pm

    The bastard sure has no problem with a ‘top down’ health care system.

    Report Post » Gonzo  
  • biohazard23
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:57pm

    Boy Wonder has no idea what the hell anyone needs.

    Report Post » biohazard23  
    • hauschild
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:03pm

      The Marxist is slowly but surely sticking it to Whitey, but half of ‘em are too freakin’ ideologically driven or stupid to see it.

      Retribution is a helluva thing. Retribution in the hands of an evil SOB can crush once mighty empires.

      Report Post »  
  • wingedwolf
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:57pm

    WHICH American people are with him on this??? I do not know of even one person. If I did, I would no longer know them.

    Report Post » wingedwolf  
    • encinom
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:01pm

      you can not argue that you are concerned about the debt if you continue to give tax breaks to the 1%, who pay less than they did at any other point in modern US history. Rates should be raised to the Clinton era, if not the Ike era.

      Report Post »  
    • dthompson579
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:13pm

      I love how the libs always bring up that they are paying less now than anytime in history. My question is when was the 16th Amendment added to the Constitution again? By the way rates and revenues are two totally different things. When Reagan and Bush lowered the tax rates the revenues went up not down. That would mean that they are actually paying more, but then again don’t let facts get in the way of your beliefs.

      Report Post » dthompson579  
    • woodyee
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:20pm

      @ Encinom –

      Taxes STIFLE good economic behaviour. The higher the taxes, the less you spend; the higher the taxes, the more expensive the American Dream of homeownership; the higher the taxes, less will be the number of folks able to KEEP their homes; the higher the taxes, the less the Rich spend and the less the rich spend, the less opportunity YOU have at employment; the higher the taxes, the less your chances of employing yourself. ALL THE ABOVE holds true except…

      …for the Criminal class.

      Report Post » woodyee  
    • Gonzo
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:22pm

      Tax rates didn’t balloon the debt Encinom, spending did.

      Report Post » Gonzo  
    • EqualJustice
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:29pm

      ENI – you are out of what mind you have left IF YOU think added tax revenue will reduce the deficit! They will just SPEND it. Give them more, they SPEND more. The trick to deficit reduction is to STOP THE DAMN SPENDING!

      Report Post » EqualJustice  
    • AvengerK
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:41pm

      Let me see if I got this right ENCIDIOT…you want to preserve a portion of the across the board tax cuts and only let them expire on one section of the American public and you expect to pay down the debt like that while implementing the biggest entitlement programme in decades?
      You feeble minded cretin..you don’t belong in an adult conversation.

      Report Post »  
    • Capitalist Mama
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 2:11pm

      Econim:

      NO. You are wrong.

      Don’t you know the difference between a percentage and a total amount? Maybe you should take 3rd grade math again.

      Report Post »  
    • BTC55
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 2:15pm

      ENCINOM – “you can not argue that you are concerned about the debt if you continue to give tax breaks to the 1%, who pay less than they did at any other point in modern US history. Rates should be raised to the Clinton era, if not the Ike era.”
      __________________________________________
      That is incorrect, as of 2009 the top 1% paid 36.7% of income taxes paid

      Only 1 year out of the Clinton years did they pay a higher pecentage and that was 2000.

      93 29.01%
      94 28.86%
      95 30.26%
      96 32.31%
      97 33.17%
      98 34.75%
      99 36.18%
      00 37.42%

      Overall the percentage paid by the rich was higher during the Bush presidency. With lower tax rates the rich do get richer but they pay more incomes taxes.

      Report Post »  
    • booger71
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 2:21pm

      What tax breaks Encinomom, you mean the tax rates? Why should the wealthy be the only ones paying for your EBT card, Share the responsibility with all tax payers

      Report Post » booger71  
    • kaydeebeau
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 7:14pm

      So let’s try this encinomoron…. if you have $100 left over at the end of every month after you pay all your bills and expenses – to spend any way you want – and the government decides it wants to increase your tax bill by $90 every month, how much do you now have to do with whatever you want?

      Now most of us could make a wiser use of that $90 than the government – a use that would actually help.

      Since only about 30 cents of every dollar sent to the government actually is used for its intended “helpful” purpose and since 40 cents is borrowed, where do you suppose that kind of math leaves us?

      And since only 30 cents goes to the intended purpose (the other 70 cents goes to overhead), if the government were really the “charity” org that you seem to think it is, would you willingly “donate” to that charity?

      And since to be considered a truely effective (as in not a scam) charitable org, the formula should at the very least be reversed (70 cents to the purpose and 30 cents to overhead – and I am being generous) there is no value being realized by “giving” money to the government.

      Now there are certain, duties that do make sense for the common good that we can agree to pay for – they are spelled out in Article 1 Section 8 – however, you will notice the post office is in that list and how solvent is the post office?

      We need a “radical” restoration of common sense in not only our “government” but ourselves – government of the people, for the people

      Report Post » kaydeebeau  
  • TomSawyer
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:57pm

    You don’t need to extend anything, because you have been saying that Bush had tax cuts only for the rich. So why do you need to modify it? Have you been lying for years over and over again? No extension until you publicly admit you lied repeatedly,.

    Report Post »  
  • yiska8
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:54pm

    Hey thanks Barry, we’ll need to extra savings to pay for a product by force, a fine to the IRS, or bond money to get out of jail when socialized care kicks in soon. We’re trying to get out of the quicksand, and Barry’s watching, but just throws you a shovel to dig your way out.How in the hell is this *hit supposed to help me?

    Report Post » yiska8  
  • IAMMADDOG
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:54pm

    How does this jackwagon know the American people are with him when he doesn’t listen to the American people?

    Report Post »  
  • Tom
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:54pm

    Its a BRILLIANT strategy right before your election to make business owners lay off more workers so the have time to vote on election day. The mans a genius!!!

    Report Post » Tom  
  • JohnLarson
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:52pm

    Very few economists back trickle down economics…

    The only stagnant dollar is a dollar in a rich persons bank account. Middle and lower class spend their money, thus stimulating the economy more, and the money goes right back to the rich, Everyone wins.

    Report Post »  
    • TomSawyer
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:00pm

      When the rich put the money in a bank account in the USA, the bank loans it to the middle class. When the rich buy something in the USA, middle class and poor earn a profit. But if you tax the rich too much, then they move the money off shore and neither of those things happen.

      Report Post »  
    • mersey
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:09pm

      Hmm, the rich don’t buy anything at all. They put all of their money in bank accounts. Interesting progressive logic.

      Report Post » mersey  
    • kaydeebeau
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:23pm

      Odd, how is it that with the inflation basic needs like food and energy, I no longer have any money left to spend on other stuff. My middle class spending is definitely not helping anyone because I have no disposable income left after basic needs are purchased.

      So I would be more willing to believe that the trickle down spending of the very wealthy is the only thing keeping some (most) enterprises going as much as they are now.

      Taxing takes money out of the private sector and throws it down the sewer of government waste

      Report Post » kaydeebeau  
    • travlman77
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:45pm

      What do think “rich people” do with their money?
      Keep it in a big vault under their mansions?
      I suppose they sneak down to the vault at night and swim and roll around in their money like Scrooge McDuck!

      Report Post » travlman77  
  • Dde13
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:51pm

    it wont work!!!!
    Where’s the fiscal responsibility? Shows no sign of spending less but pushes those who work the hardest and successful to pay even more…somewhere in that speech was a lie….he can’t speak without doing so. How about getting people back to work? Half the country doesn’t pay federal taxes!!!
    Government get GET OF THE WAY!!!!! IT’S TOO DAM BIG….

    Report Post »  
  • jamestoms
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:50pm

    Obama dosen’t know crap, he has proved that in spades. He hasn’t even held a job. He is flat out a liar and has destroyed the credibility of the office. All of his supports are liable for the USA distruction too. All are ignorant traitors.

    Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:50pm

    Same song, same insanity of Obama and the leftists; he is unfit for office due to insanity and needs to be removed from there today.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • HKS
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:48pm

    $250,000, that’s chump change, that wouldn‘t pay for one of Michele’s evenings out, or maybe even a trip or two around the block for Obama, or even a date for his daughter. It’s inflation man.

    Report Post » HKS  
  • historyguy48
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:47pm

    Comrades what we need is another stimulus package. Things will get far better after we print say another 30 trillion dollars or so. Then Dear Leader will have a little more money to give his friends. Perhaps he could lend Iran some so they could finally build a few of those nukes they “don’t have” after 25 years of working on them!
    Either those Iranians are dumb as a stone or Dear Leader is, and we all know that he is the smartest person in the history of the universe! No wonder they won’t allow him to show his brilliance on Jeopardy he would break the bank, or perhaps not even be allowed into final jeopardy!

    Report Post » historyguy48  
  • The-Monk
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:46pm

    “‘We Don’t Need More Top-Down Economics’”

    Can’t get more “top-down” than those Stimulus Plans and the QE1 or QE2……

    Report Post » The-Monk  
  • whatthecrazy
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:46pm

    plop plop fiz fiz…………………………

    Report Post »  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:43pm

    “We’ve tried it their way,”
    This guy is still acting like he just got elected yesterday. Hey Barry, we‘ve been trying it your way for 4 years now and it doesn’t work!

    Report Post » Gonzo  
    • SimpleTruths
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:28pm

      Republicans have blocked 80% of what he has tried to do, so that argument doesn’t hold water. At least he has a plan, Mitt has nothing.

      Report Post » SimpleTruths  
    • AvengerK
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:37pm

      yeah sure SIMPLETONTRUTHS…that‘s why Obama’s budgets have been UNANIMOUSLY voted down in both houses of congress. That includes Harry Reid’s Democrat Senate.
      You’re an idiot..you just say “stuff” without even thinking.

      Report Post »  
    • Gonzo
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 1:45pm

      Oh I see, and for the first six years of the Reagan presidency the Republicans controlled the Senate, and the Democrats controlled the House. So what‘s Obama’s excuse? Incompetence? I’ll agree with that.

      Report Post » Gonzo  
    • Verceofreason
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 7:22pm

      You don‘t know what you’re talking about. So don’t.

      Report Post » Verceofreason  
    • skimmer57
      Posted on July 9, 2012 at 7:45pm

      Simpletruths– Come on man. You do know that the rich spend their money Right? Well what a minute that is unless you make $ 57000 a day and have a car elevator and mansions all over and keep your cash in oversea’s accounts. I should give Mitt a break. He and his five sons are war heroes who volunteered and fought bravely for our country. Not! He spent that time in a chalet in France! Well at least his wife’s prized horse will be representing the U.S. in the Olympics. What a joke!

      Report Post »  
  • huey6367
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:43pm

    I see the unemployment numbers rising in the near future.

    But those making over $250K a year aren’t Obama voters (except the celebtards). So he doesn’t care if they vote for him or not.

    Sad

    Report Post »  
  • wisehiney
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:43pm

    This would affect more than any others the middle class taxpayers living in blue state cities. They are paid a little more than average due to the much higher cost of living in these cities. Gotta love it when liberals get what they asked for.

    Report Post »  
  • Psychosis
    Posted on July 9, 2012 at 12:42pm

    wait, i thought the bush tax cuts were just for the rich ???????

    thats what the left has been claiming for 3 yrs now

    wa wa what? they lied ? now how didnt i see THAT coming /sarc

    Report Post » Psychosis  
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