Obama Would Leave Bush's Tax Cuts in Place for 2 Years

[Tellurian]

Obama would leave them in place until they expired at the end of 2010. That's two more years of tax injustice, two more years of rich people getting money they don't need, money that could be going toward social programs. Is this his idea of consensus? Isn't economic justice worth fighting for?

More important, perhaps, is what his position would mean for the most important domestic issue. Like Edwards, Obama plans to use increased tax revenue to fund health care reform.

"The additional revenue needed to fund the up-front investments in technology and to help people who cannot afford health insurance is more than covered by allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for people making more than $250,000 per year, as they are scheduled to do."

http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/Obama08_HealthcareFAQ.pdf (pg. 5)

Do you get it, people? This means that Obama couldn't get health care reform passed until 2011 at the earliest. He probably couldn't even introduce it until then. Otherwise he would be trying to fund his plan with money that wasn't yet availaible. (Notice, as well, that Obama would leave in place Bush's taxes for those making between 200 and 250 K a year.)

I prefer Hillary's approach: tax justice and starting health care reform in Year One.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/6/104726/0056/332/354619

[Tellurian]

1. Doing Oprah a BIG favor with keeping Bush Tax Cuts in place!

so... who said There's nothing Obama can give Oprah she doesn't already have?

A gift that keeps on giving for years to come! :hi:

[Renew Deal]

4. Obama himself cannot take them away

Congress would have to repeal them. Given Hillary's current statements, she wouldn't get health care done until sometime around 2016-2017.

[Renew Deal]

2. 2011 is sooner than 2016

:shrug:

[Tellurian]

6. Well Obama can try running again in 2016..

Is that what you mean?

[Renew Deal]

9. Hillary can't do health care until the "end of her second term"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3814616

[Tellurian]

32. He knows that thread was intended to dupe people like you..

too lazy to do any research!

Or fling any bit of your hateful bile at Hillary..

Shame on you!

[maddiejoan]

3. It's all part of Obama's

Big plan for change.

Soon we all have to raid our "change" jars to purchase food.

[NewHampster]

5. His plan is only slightly viable because it's

an eenzy bit better than Bush's health care plan.

[Double T]

7. A perfect example for NOT voting for Obama; hasn't got the guts.........

or conviction to take the candy away from the filthy rich whining babies. Like Hillary, Obama wants it BOTH ways. The search continues for TRUE LEADERSHIP.

[Tellurian]

12. Hillary says: "End Bush tax cuts;take things away from rich for common good"

http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/Hillary_Clinton_Tax_Reform.htm

[Double T]

16. I would like a clarification from HRC on this specific issue..........

HRC's quotes are from 2006 or earlier; it is almost 2008 and she is taking in a lot of campaign contributions from the filthy rich.

[Scriptor Ignotus]

15. Congress has to overturn the tax cuts

not the Prez. That's kind of how it works...

[Double T]

19. They don't call them "congress' tax cuts to the rich" , do they?

Like I was saying, WE need TRUE LEADERSHIP to get the BIG JOB DONE and Obama and HRC aren't showing they can make it happen.

[Scriptor Ignotus]

29. the Bush Admin wanted these cuts

but it still went through Congress. To cut the cuts you've got to use Congress.

[Double T]

44. And we need a TRUE LEADER to initiate the legislation; Obama isn't that person.

[BootinUp]

8. This is a pretty weak position for Obama to take.

Unacceptable.

[Renew Deal]

10. Who's got a better position

Show me the detailed list:

[BootinUp]

18. post 17

[PresidentObama]

11. "starting health care reform in Year One." She's only commited to do it by END of her SECOND term.

Not in year one.

[Tellurian]

13. Hillary was frank and honest in her statement.. So, Edwards will get everything passed in yr one..

That Hillary HC thread was the most dishonest thread you've posted to date..

You deliberately mislead DUer into thinking Edwards or Obama could get HC passed sooner. At least Hillary is will to push for meaningful HC the minute she's elected..Not so with the Edwards and Obama plan.

[PresidentObama]

26. He sure as hell isn't going to wait four or six years to pass healthcare.

Why can't she commit to passing universal healthcare even in her first term?

Hell, even the first two years?

America can't wait!!

No one said we won't have a battle. We will.

Doesn't mean she should wait and wait and wait to pass universal healthcare for all.

She has a great plan, why wait?

[Tellurian]

37. Are you that ignorant of the legislative process?

stop with the scare tactics...you're not fooling anyone..except yourself.

[PresidentObama]

41. No I'm not. You're attacking Obama on tax cuts, when Hillary might not get HC passed for YEARS!

[Tellurian]

46. And you refuse to answer my question..

How will Edwards or Obama for that matter pass Health Care Reform within their first year in office?

[Scriptor Ignotus]

14. maybe he could issue an executive order to repeal them??

or maybe Congress would have to repeal the tax cuts that they passed?

Congress = Legislative Branch

Prez = Executive Branch


Pres. Obama does not have the ability to overturn the tax cuts. But don't let that stop you from criticizing him anyway.

[Tellurian]

20. Hillary is smarter than Obama..and has a special interest in seeing the passage of HC Reform

Obama plans on letting the Tax Bill expire..

Hillary plans on redirecting those funds to a PEP Initiative immediately..

That is the difference..

from Jim's post...thanks Jim:

Redirecting Tax Breaks

• Redirect Savings from High-Income Tax Cuts for Tax Breaks to Ensure Affordable,
Health Care Coverage: The American Health Choices Plan will redirect the revenue
gained from not continuing President Bush’s income tax rate cuts and exemption
increases (known as PEP and Pease) for households making over $250,000 to help
finance health reform.

While this small percentage of well-off Americans would see their tax rates returned to pre-Bush levels, the plan would offer tens of millions of Americans a new tax credit to make premiums affordable. Those tax breaks more than offset the increase in revenues derived from not renewing these provisions of the Bush
tax cuts and capping the tax exclusion for health care for the highest income Americans
(explained below), making the plan a net tax cut for American taxpayers.

[Scriptor Ignotus]

28. that quote says "not continuing" (tax cuts)

isn't that the same as "letting them expire"? Is that from Hillary's official website or from a related site (Jim's?)

[BootinUp]

17. I'm not sure

if Hillary's position is any different. It seems the candidates are being very careful on this issue.

This is snipped from her healthcare plan. But certainly Obama's proposal appears to be no better.

Redirecting Tax Breaks
• Redirect Savings from High-Income Tax Cuts for Tax Breaks to Ensure Affordable,
Health Care Coverage: The American Health Choices Plan will redirect the revenue
gained from not continuing President Bush’s income tax rate cuts and exemption
increases (known as PEP and Pease) for households making over $250,000 to help
finance health reform. While this small percentage of well-off Americans would see
their tax rates returned to pre-Bush levels, the plan would offer tens of millions of
Americans a new tax credit to make premiums affordable. Those tax breaks more than
offset the increase in revenues derived from not renewing these provisions of the Bush
tax cuts and capping the tax exclusion for health care for the highest income
Americans (explained below), making the plan a net tax cut for American taxpayers.

[Renew Deal]

25. So the difference is it will take Hillary until 2016 to enact it?

:shrug:

[BootinUp]

34. As I said before on another thread

I do not think that old quote you are referring to is still operative since there has been increased emphasis on health care, and more detailed plans laid out. Assuming all the candidates have similar proposals it is likely they would all take a similar time frame to implement.

[Renew Deal]

36. So far no one has been able to provide a different time frame

That's the only info out there and it came from the candidate herself. There's no reason (yet) to believe it has changed.

[BootinUp]

38. I tire of repeating myself. nt

[Renew Deal]

45. I know.

It's not your fault. I'm not sticking to the date yet either. Hopefully we'll get a clarification soon.

[bunnies]

21. When will Hillary roll them back?

I cant seem to find that info.

[bunnies]

30. Id still like an answer to this. Anyone? nt

[bunnies]

49. Two days and still no response to my question.

huh.

[mtnsnake]

22. To let the wealthiest 5% of people continue fucking the rest of us for 2 extra yrs is outrageous!

How on earth could ANY Democrat ever leave Bush's unfair tax cuts for the wealthiest people in place for another minute, let alone for 2 more years?!?!

[PresidentObama]

27. How on earth could Hillary wait for healthcare?

She wants it by the end of her SECOND term.

Can America wait?

[dionysus]

48. that's outrageous! that's over the line! Why, that's...

...One toke over the line sweet mtnsnake one toke over the line,
standing downtown at the DLC station, one toke over the line... :hi:

[jus_the_facts]

23. BENEFITS OF THE TAX CUTS, 2008-2017 More than $1 Trillion in Tax Benefits

SNIP...

http://www.cbpp.org/2-5-07tax.htm






The President’s budget proposes to make permanent the tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003. At the same time, the President has argued that his goal of balancing the budget by 2012 will require substantial cuts to domestic programs. The budget proposes funding cuts amounting to $114 billion over the next five years in an array of domestic non-entitlement programs, including education programs, health research, environmental programs, and others.

The savings that would be achieved by these cuts in each of the next five years would be less than the cost of the tax cuts just for households with incomes above $1 million. In 2012, the President’s budget would cut domestic programs by $34 billion; the cost of tax cuts for households with incomes above $1 million would be $73 billion (see Figure 2). In essence, the budget would use the resources from these benefit cuts, which would affect millions of low- and middle-income families, to defray a small portion of the costs of the President’s tax cuts, which are providing very large tax benefits to the wealthiest families in the country.

As noted above, when the Tax Policy Center evaluated the distribution of the tax cuts in conjunction with possible approaches to paying for them, it found that most low- and middle-income families would likely lose, on net, from the combination of tax cuts and offsetting program cuts and tax increases. A similar outcome would almost certainly follow if the President’s tax cuts were extended and then ultimately paid for largely or entirely through domestic program cuts of the kind recommended in the President’s budget.

[cloudythescribbler]

24. These kinds of hypothetical issues always come up

But the real questions about the three leading Dems are:

Can they win in the GE?

Is there character such that they will govern well, and progressively?

Are they likely to betray their platform (as Bill Clinton did)?

Are there MAJOR differences in their platform or outlook from the other possible Dem nominees?


Sometimes, if one believes the differences on ALL these issues are not great, one might then decide, eg, to cast a vote for Kucinich to give that platform more voice. (I did that in 04 b/c Kerry had already sewn up the nomination).

My own answers are:

I think Obama, for nonmeasureable reasons, is the strongest candidate?

I think that Obama is likely to govern, if elected, at least as well as his rivals, if not better (again looking at character and predeliction)

I think Clinton is MUCH more likely to betray the liberal/progressive wing of the Party once in power, just like Bill Clinton did.

There really AREN'T major platform differences, and that issue needs to be kept in mind. (Of course, in the federal government, a difference of $billions -- in theory -- might not be as major considering the overall picture as one might make it out to be).

[madrchsod]

31. hillary leaves the tax cuts permanent

it`s buried in her health care plan.

[BootinUp]

35. the section in question

is in post 17. And it contradicts your claim there.

[flpoljunkie]

40. Yes. Explained in an article on her healthcare plan from the Miami Herald.

To pay for her $100-billion-a-year-plus healthcare plan, Clinton would allow President Bush's tax cuts for those who earn more than $250,000 a year to expire, as scheduled, in 2010.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation/story/321966.html

[BigDDem]

33. Did Oprah sign off on this?

[readmoreoften]

39. What on earth could be a good reason for waiting to roll these back? Dumb. /nt

[CyberPieHole]

42. Yet one more reason not to vote for Obama...

he's all talk and no substance.

[fightindonkey]

43. Obama Doesn't Know The Reality of Politics. Everyone Is Not Your Friend

Tough.

[Stop Cornyn]

47. Does cali know about this?