The Washington Post reveals the inside scoop on the grand bargain last year and currently under consideration, affirming that President Obama, indeed, wants to cut corporate taxes while making up for the deficits by cutting social security, medicare, medicaid, healthcare, and other safety-net social programs yet raising taxes on the working and middle classes. President Barack Obama is not a progressive President.
Obama’s top advisors of the grand bargain—the deficit-debt cutting deal last July—included William Daley, Chief of Staff, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, budget director Lew Jacobs, and Rob Nabors, the legislative liaison. Obama was negotiating this deal with John Boehner and Eric Kantor. The Republicans wanted Obama to give up plans to raise the highest marginal tax rate on the rich from 35%; rather, they wanted him to lower that tax rate as well as preserve the low capital gain rates on investment income, one of the biggest perks for the wealthy in the tax code, and exempt corporate profits from overseas from U.S. taxes.
In essence, the Republicans wanted Obama to cut social security, medicare, Medicaid, healthcare, and other social programs and in return for such, cut all the taxes on the rich, Wall Streeters, and multinational corporations. The question is: where was the deal here? Even though they were cutting taxes in three different ways for the rich, Wall Streeters, and multinational corporations, they were not willing to raise taxes, but were merely willing, so to speak, to “simplify the tax code”, and rely on supply side economics (i.e., dynamic scoring) to provide a projected increase of $800 billion in governmental revenues.
What is surprising to many Democrats is that Obama accepted this Republican proposal; however, John Boehner, after conferring with Republicans, ultimately backed out of the deal since it was apparently not enough to appease House Republicans. But White House administration officials announced this week that the deal is still on the table!!!
In summary, the deal is simply the following: the Republicans get cuts to social security, medicare, Medicaid, healthcare, and other safety-net social programs that they demanded while they also get lower taxes on the rich, corporations, Wall Streeters, and multinational corporations that they desired. What do the working and middle classes get from the Democrats negotiating on their behalf from this deal? Nothing! Nada!
Where is the “grand bargain”? Where is the deal? The rich and elite get lower taxes while the working and middle classes suffer more spending cuts to their social security, medicare, Medicaid, healthcare, and other benefits.
Has Obama forgotten what political party he belongs to? Or have all Congressional Democrats and Democratic Presidents moved so far to the right that they are now indistinguishable monetarily and fiscally from their corporate Republican counterparts?
Accountants CPA Hartford, LLC
I saw this posted at Daily Kos and was not surprised that it attracted the kind of derision and cult of personality responses so typical of authoritarian-minded Kossacks. Dear Leader makes Bush look good by comparison and what do so-called liberals do? Cling to Obama’s pants even tighter. Sick.
Thank you for Defiant DESISTANCE Against burgeoning Baracquiescence among the “professional left”!