Image via WikipediaThis morning President Obama left a meeting at the White House in a huff and said he will not compromise on “raising the debt limit” by abandoning the tax increase on the rich proposal “even if it means the end to his presidency…” them are strong words indeed.
Many have said that the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy cannot and should not be allowed to continue because we just can’t afford those cuts any more. Many also say that we are taxed at record low rates so why not increase the rates for those that can afford it.
The arguments are well founded and under normal circumstances, I would agree with them BUT we are not in normal circumstances. Yes, Ronald Reagan raised taxes in a recession but he didn’t face a housing scenario that we have today. Under Reagan, the recession was just a normal economic cycle whereas today, we have a depression that has no precedents in history; we are in uncharted waters.
My big objection to raising taxes (even on the wealthy) is that it makes Democrats continue to play their spending games and will not get serious about cutting the government’s spending. As long as they can increase taxes, they will not cut spending as deeply as they need to be cut.
This may well be Obama’s only term as president and it is not only because he wants to raise taxes so badly; he has failed in other areas of the economy for ideological reasons. Instead of doing what economists indicate needs to be done, he plays around politically, supporting unions and spending on programs that do not work.
He needs to stop playing politics and get down to business. I realize that the Republicans are playing politics but they are the opposition and that is what a party in opposition does. He is the president and party ideology should not matter to him at this time; he needs to do what needs to be done period.
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