OK, we missed one of the 'T's on Warren Buffett, but we still thought it was funny... So, what is the big topic this week? Buffett Rule, Buffett Rule, F**king Buffett Rule... Personally, we are sick to death of hearing about this. If we played a drinking game, and 'Warren Buffett's Secretary' and 'Fairness' were the drinking phrases, we would have died from alcohol poisoning by now... Nothing pisses us more than political bullshit, and this whole issue is political bullshit from top to bottom, from both sides...
Rarely have we heard more disinformation and misleading motivations that all the Bull Durham we've been listening to on this - and for a plan that will only affect the budget by $4.7 Billion, or about ONE DAY's worth of the total annual budget deficit.. So, in the interest of ending or resolving this stupidity, we're going to point out all of the crap...
First, we are going to point out the Republicans error, because there is only one, but it is a fundamental flaw that causes us to look bad over and over again, both in real terms and politically... For decades, we have pushed for tax cuts for higher end income earners, because they are the job creators. If they have more money, they will hire more people. This is inherently wrong. Why? Because super rich people don't just hire people because they have money in the bank. Neither do corporations.. They hire people because there is an increase in DEMAND for their products or services. All markets are supply and demand. With no demand, there is no market, and no need for workers. That supply is created by ordinary citizens spending and using goods and services. So, if you want to create jobs, it is more effective to lower taxes on lower and middle class earners, because that money WILL be spent, and there is more bang for the buck. The sooner my party understands this, and stops drinking the Kool Aid of the people financing the campaigns, the better off we'll be...
Now, onto Barack Obama's politicizing game... Do we think he's rehashing this Buffett Rule stupidity to try and deflect attention away from the GSA Junket fiasco? Uhh, yeah... It happens all the time, and this administration are masters at the game. We're into Year Four, and they still are blaming George W. Bush for whatever they can - even the GSA mess! It obviously wasn't working, so they needed to pivot away from this, and resurrecting Warren Buffett and his secretary (how much DOES she make, anyway???) again was their decision...
Now, onto the idea itself... We feel that everyone should pay some taxes, so in a nation where half of citizens DON'T pay taxes, we get a little pissed off. However, capital gains taxes are a funny animal to us. To us, capital gains aren't really income, they are profits from investments. Basically you work, you make money, and pay taxes on it. You take the leftovers, and put it in the market to earn interest, so capital gains really is double taxing. Yeah, maybe that tax is on the idiot son/daughter who's sitting on a trust fund and not really being useful, but capital gains aren't really the same. Plus, if you're going to end up paying 30% in taxes IF you make money, why bother taking the risk if you're losing a third right off the top? There has to be some caution to NOT affect the money put into the financial markets..
Now, all of this is theoretical analysis... Time to get to the reality of the plan, and it's main problem - it's small potatoes. Far too small to spend all of this time on it. Congress spends double that on a daily basis, and if this is the best Barack Obama can do, then he's not showing any willingness to make the tough choices. America doesn't need a buddy right now - they need a leader. If $4.7 Billion is one day's deficit amount, than don't spend more than one day on it.... Yeah, a lot is being made of this, much more than it needs to be. Don't waste days pushing a plan that'll affect 1470 people in the US, just do it an move on to bigger problems. Unless, of course, the purpose isn't to close the deficit - and that's the problem. This isn't much about fairness, and it sure isn't about balancing the budget - it's politics.
If Barack Obama really wants everyone to pay their fair share, then do what we've suggested for years - make a tiered Flat Income Tax. Get the CBO to estimate the rates to pay for the budget. Problem solved... Oh yeah, you can't demonize the opposing party by doing that, can you? Stephen Hayes put it quite correctly yesterday - Barack Obama isn't much of a leader, but he's a hell of a campaigner...
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