President Obama has said that both political parties must compromise for the greater good. But what he means by compromise is for Republicans to agree to raise the debt ceiling and raise taxes. Once again Democrats are playing the class warfare card claiming that Republicans want to give tax cuts to the rich and screw the poor.
This is a classic bait and switch tactic by the liberal left that unfortunately has worked effectively for decades. Republicans tend to get defensive and mutter comments like “I don’t think we should raise taxes on anyone during a down economy.” It is pathetic. What Republicans should do is start telling people the truth. There is a good reason all those rich Democrats are so willing to support increasing tax rates on the rich. It is because they know they won’t pay them. Really rich people hire professionals to find ways to avoid tax.
Republicans need to point out the obvious difference between raising tax rates on the rich and raising the amount of tax actually paid by the rich. This is an easy argument to win.
The following charts shows what percentage of total income tax was actually “paid” by income groups for the period 1980 – 2008
George W. Bush cut the top tax rate and almost immediately the top wage earners began to pay a higher percentage of total tax revenue. Even more significantly, the lower tax brackets paid a significantly lower percentage of total tax revenue. If Bush is to be criticized, it is for allowing half of the population to pay nothing at all.
With regard to raising the debt limit, Republicans can win this debate, if they grow a spine. They should just refuse to raise the debt limit. They should tell Obama he cannot borrow any more money, period!
The 14th Amendment says the U.S cannot default on its debt. It does not authorize the President to borrow more money. If Obama refuses to pay our debt and spends money on anything else, he will be violating the constitution. Obama is pretending that Republicans will be responsible for any default, but that is untrue. There is more than enough money to pay the cost of our debt.
Some things are predictable. Obama will begin, as Democratic Presidents usually do, by cutting the military. He may use this as an excuse to just order an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and blame the resulting mess on Republicans. This is the only cut that Obama can make that will not infuriate his base.
Obama is unlikely to cut Social Security or Medicare. His plan is to intimidate Republicans into doing that, so he can campaign against them on the subject. He wants the Republicans to propose cuts. Then Obama will ride in on his white horse and save the day. But that is only possible if Republicans are dumb enough to play the game. Republicans can call his bluff by refusing to raise the debt limit and dumping the ball fully in his court. That way Obama, not Republicans will have to propose cutting entitlements. Obama is very good at shifting leadership responsibility to everyone else. Republicans need to call his bluff.
I don’t expect it, but I would sure like to see Boehner say: “enough is enough.” We aren’t going to increase the debt limit. We are not going to raise taxes on anyone. The American people are already taxed too much. Increasing taxes will only destroy what is left of our economy resulting in even less tax revenue.
Mr. President, it is time for you to provide the leadership required to cut spending in a responsible manner. It is time for you to stop shifting responsibility to everyone else and do your job.
TDM