5 years into the Obama presidency ...

[srican69]

No one even raises the tax rates for Hedge Fund managers ... ( they pay 15% on their deferred salary - for no good reason) ...while the rest of us 'those people' get buggered - I pay 15% in FICA alone on my 1099 income ( I am a contractor) plus Federal and State Income taxes get piled on top ...

But HedgeFundies .. Oh No .. you cant tax their income as you do for the regular folks .... you are damaging capitalism !!

Its not even an issue - wonder why is that? Despite all the talk of deficits ... not a peep on tax fairness.

[frazzled]

1. Because the President can set taxes?

Because I'm sure you know he (or she) cannot. Yet Obama has proposed killing the tax loophole for hedge fund managers; it was proposed in a budget he submitted early on:

If there is one tax loophole that looks dead in the water, it's the law that lets hedge fund and private equity managers pay a 15-percent capital-gains rate on the multimillion-dollar fees they collect -- substantially less than the top income tax rates paid by their secretaries, chauffeurs, and the pilots of their private jets.

On the surface, the stars are aligned. There is a newly elected Democrat in the White House who is desperate to raise revenues. His budget calls for killing this tax break to raise $14.75 billion over five years and $23.89 billion over ten years. In addition, there are Democratic House and Senate majorities - representing the party of working people - and what could more unfair than letting billionaires pay taxes at a fraction of the rate of the guy with the lunch pail?


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/26/will-the-taxman-cometh_n_170082.html

Ask why it is that Congress has not permitted this to happen since going back to the Bush and Clinton administrations? Ask one of your senators, who gets money from hedge-fund managers.

[Buzz Clik]

3. This is a reprise of the first year of his term

Screaming, howling, gnashing of teeth, wringing of hands because he didn't deliver on his promises. We pleaded for patience, but the usual suspects would get red-faced and declare their regret for voting for him.

DOMA
Iraq
Don't Ask Don't Tell
etc, etc, etc.

And when he delivered? Retractions? Of course not. DU simply moves on to the next thing that sets their hair on fire.

[randome]

2. Four years and three months, actually.

Just to nit-pick.

[cprise]

4. Corporate media have brainwashed the population

...to at least doubt their own interests are legitimate. It employs a constant cycle of distraction from what is really going on until it is too late. It negatively portrays average wage earners and unemployed, while idolizing the rich and their schemes. It tries to get people to spend and consume as much as possible.

That's why.

Watch this BBC mini series from the 90s and you'll understand why most people won't engage with the issues.