Geithner Won’t Rule Out New Taxes for Middle Class

[girl gone mad]

No money for real health care reform, lots of money for bankers, corporations and war. Now Tim wants to send the bills to middle class Americans because our Chinese lenders are losing patience.

Geithner Won’t Rule Out New Taxes for Middle Class
http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2009/08/geithner-wont-rule-out-new-taxes-for-middle-class.html

To get the economy back on track, will President Barack Obama have to break his pledge not to raise taxes on 95 percent of Americans? In a “This Week” exclusive, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told me, "We’re going to have to do what’s necessary.”

Geithner was clear that he believes a key component of economic recovery is deficit reduction. When I gave him several opportunities to rule out a middle class tax hike, he wouldn’t do it.

“We have to bring these deficits down very dramatically,” Geithner told me. “And that’s going to require some very hard choices.”

“We will not get this economy back on track, recovery will be not strong and sustained, unless we convince the American people that we are going to have the will to bring these deficits down once recovery is firmly established,” he said.

[Horse with no Name]

1. What can I say?

Mama (Goldman Sachs) needs a new pair of shoes, and unfortunately for all of us, they are Stuart Weitzman’s Rita Hayworth Heels with a price tag of only $3 million bucks a pair!

[Skittles]

2. it just gets better and better, doesn't it?

[ixion]

3. 30% of 0 is 0

if people aren't working, if they don't have any taxable income, you can raise taxes all you like and it won't make a difference.

I'm sick of hearing from the people who caused this mess describe what they believe will have to be done to correct it.

[fasttense]

4. This is ridiculous. Geithner never said he would tax the middle class.

Do you know what else Geithner never ruled out? He never ruled out torturing babies and puppies for national security. He never ruled out trying to fly by jumping off tall buildings. He didn't rule out a whole lot of stuff that ain't never going to happen.

Twist and spin is all George Stephanopoulos serves up on this week. He sounds like a Republicon with absolutely NO facts.

[cdsilv]

5. Convince the American people? No, convince the Chinese oligarchs.....n/t

[notesdev]

6. If I may...

"you can't successfully tax people with no job and no income"

Somewhere along the line, someone is actually going to have to be productive in order to create an actual recovery.

[Democrats_win]

7. Why reduce the deficit? So a Bush-clone can waste more in the future?

Yeah yeah, I know how deficits do put a damper on the economy in some cases. The days of Democrats fixing Repulbican messes are over. Remember, before bush we had peace and prosperity and a balanced budget.

What we really need to do is find a way to lock in good financial decisions so that a fool like Bush can't reward his cronies and wipe out the world's economy in the process. That's what Geithner and the "brain" trust of economic advisers should really be working on.

In fact at the state level voters have been trying to get their legislatures to act more responsibly. Unfortunately, that has been a disaster. This effort has given us California's infamous prop-13 and Colorado's Tabor amendment. So getting the government and voters on the right page will be very difficult. But let's do that before raising taxes on the middle class. Ok?

[sendero]

8. One termer for sure..

... if he breaks his 250K pledge. I guarantee it.

[pa28]

9. Cutting our outstanding debt will be very difficult without an asset tax on the table.

Giving high earners favorable tax treatment and many loopholes started as a method to stimulate growth but it gradually became dogma and resulted in a gross imbalance of wealth distribution. Capital is firmly lodged at the top now and it's not circulating in the economy.

Sure it's much easier to tax flows of money but we have such a gigantic problem now in terms of public debt and distribution of private wealth it's odd that nobody is even considering an asset tax. Are we really going to be filling our budget holes by tightening the vice on a shrinking pool of already pressed middle class people?

Maybe it's the wrong idea but until somebody breaks the weird social taboo we've developed on the subject it can't even come up for a real analysis.

[704wipes]

10. after 8 yrs of Bush Cheney there is less middle class

and few of them realize they are NOT in it anymore...