海角大神

Read my lips: Obama not trying to spark 'class warfare'

The media and regressive Republicans seem to want Americans to believe that President Obama is proposing a tax increase on wealthy Americans. But Robert Reich disagrees, saying in fact under the plan everyone is treated exactly the same.

To hear the media report it, President Obama is proposing a tax increase on wealthy Americans. That鈥檚 misleading at best. He鈥檚 proposing that everyone receive a continuation of the Bush tax cuts on the first $250,000 of their incomes. Any dollars they earn in excess of $250,000 will be taxed at the old Clinton-era rates.

Get it? Everyone is treated exactly the same. Everyone gets a one-year extension of the Bush tax cut on the first $250,000 of income. No 鈥渃lass warfare.鈥�

Yet regressive Republicans want Americans to believe differently. The editorial writers of the Wall Street Journal say the President wants to extend the Bush tax cuts only 鈥渇or some taxpayers.鈥� They urge House Republicans to extend the Bush tax cuts for 鈥渆veryone鈥� and thereby put Senate Democrats on the spot by 鈥渇orcing them to choose between extending rates for everyone and accepting Mr. Obama鈥檚 tax increase.鈥�

Pure demagoguery.聽

Regressives also want Americans to think the President鈥檚 proposal would hurt 鈥渢ens of thousands of job-creating businesses,鈥� as the Journal puts it.

More baloney.

A small business owner earning $251,000 would pay the Bush rate on the first $250,000 and the old Clinton rate on just $1,000.

颁辞苍驳谤别蝉蝉鈥檚 Joint Tax Committee estimates that in 2013 about 940,000 taxpayers would have enough business income to break through the $250,000 ceiling 鈥� and, again, they鈥檇 pay additional taxes only on dollars earned above $250,000.

All told, fewer than 3 percent of small business owners would even reach the $250,000 threshold.

A third lie is Obama鈥檚 proposal will 鈥渋ncrease uncertainly and further retard investment and job creation,鈥� as the聽Journal聽puts it.

Don鈥檛 believe it.

The real reason businesses aren鈥檛 creating more jobs is American consumers 鈥� whose purchases constitute 70 percent of U.S. economic activity 鈥� don鈥檛 have the money to buy more, and they can no longer borrow as before. Businesses won鈥檛 invest and hire without consumers. Even as executive pay keeps rising, the median wage keeps dropping 鈥� largely because businesses keep whacking payrolls.聽

The only people who鈥檇 have to pay substantially more taxes under Obama鈥檚 proposal are those earning far in excess of $250,000 鈥� and they aren鈥檛 small businesses. They鈥檙e the fattest of corpulent felines. Their spending will not be affected if their official tax rate rises from the Bush 35 percent to the Bill Clinton 39.6 percent.聽

In fact, most of these people鈥檚 income is unearned 鈥� capital gains and dividends that are now taxed at only 15 percent. If the Bush tax cuts expire on schedule, the capital gains rate would return to the same 20 percent it was under Bill Clinton (the Affordable Care Act would add a 3.8 percent surcharge).

Funny, I don鈥檛 remember the economy suffering under Bill Clinton鈥檚 taxes. I was in Clinton鈥檚 cabinet, so perhaps my memory is self-serving. But I seem to recall that the economy generated 22 million net new jobs during those years, unemployment fell dramatically, almost everyone鈥檚 income grew, poverty dropped, and the economy soared. In fact, it was the strongest and best economy we鈥檝e had in anyone鈥檚 memory.

In sum: Don鈥檛 fall for these big lies 鈥� Obama wants to extend the Bush tax cut 鈥渙nly for some people,鈥� small businesses will be badly hit, businesses won鈥檛 hire because of uncertainty this proposal would create, or the Clinton-era tax levels crippled the economy,聽

A ton of corporate and billionaire money is behind these lies and others like them, as well as formidable mouthpieces of the regressive right such as Rupert Murdoch鈥檚 Wall Street Journal editorial page.

The truth is already a casualty of this election year. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 so important for you to spread it.聽聽