The September 27, 2010, issue of The Weekly Standard has an article by Matthew Continetti about President Obama's tax policies. The opening paragraph states:
"The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts expire on January 1. President Obama wants to extend the current rates for households making less than $250,000, limiting the increase to the rich. Republicans say raising taxes in a weak economy is a mistake, full stop. And guess what, plenty of rank and file Democrats agree with them. Who says bipartisanship is dead?"
Thirty-one Democrats have sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi asking her not to raise taxes. The article points out:
""The more money we leave in private hands, the quicker our recovery will be," Joe Lieberman told the Chamber of Commerce in Middlesex, Connecticut, last week. "Raising taxes in a weak economy could impair recovery," Ben Nelson said in a recent press release."
One aspect of this debate is that it proves that despite the Democrats' claims at the time, George Bush's tax cuts were not all for the rich!
The question that needs to be asked here is, "Whose money is it anyway?" The argument from the President centers around 'fairness' and the 'cost of the tax cuts.' Why is it more fair to take money from people who have worked hard to earn it and not take money from people who earned less? When did it become the government's job to decide how much money you could earn before they started taking it away from you? How can tax cuts cost when the money belongs to the people who earned it--not the government?
The article concludes:
"What if the key to recovery is aligning incentives in a way that promotes work, saving, and investment? In that case, wouldn't you want to allow taxpayers to keep the dollars they earn? Wouldn't you want to encourage people to earn more, rather than encourage dependence on government subsidies and transfers?"
When a behavior is rewarded, it increases. When people are allowed to keep more of what they earn, they work harder to earn more. The Obama Administration is moving in the wrong direction for recovery. Congress is correct in wanting to extend all of the Bush tax cuts. Pay attention to how your Congressmen vote, and remember these votes when you vote in November.
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