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Obama targets wealthy in a bid to cut US national debt
Source: Agencies |
September 20, 2011, Tuesday
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US President Barack Obama set up another clash with opposition Republicans yesterday by proposing US$1.5 trillion in new taxes aimed primarily at the wealthy as part of a US$3 trillion package to shrink the US national debt.
Obama's plan has little chance of passing Congress, where Republicans control the House of Representatives. Republicans staunchly oppose tax increases and want spending cuts to reduce debt.
Congress's senior Republican, House Speaker John Boehner, has said no such legislation will pass.
The populist pitch in Obama's speech, however, could offer political benefits ahead of next year's elections. The plan could appeal to Americans, many of whom believe the deficit cannot be reduced by spending cuts alone, according to some polls.
It could also energize Obama's fellow Democrats, who have been clamoring for the president to take tougher positions against Republicans.
"We cannot just cut our way out of this hole," the president said. He noted he is among the millionaires who should face higher tax rates than the middle class and said: "It is only right we ask everyone to pay their fair share."
Obama's recommendation to a joint congressional committee served as a sharp counterpoint to Republican lawmakers, who have insisted tax increases should play no part in taming the nation's escalating national debt. The new taxes predominantly would hit wealthy Americans, ending their Bush-era tax cuts and limiting their deductions.
The core of the president's plan totals just more than US$2 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years. It combines the new taxes with US$580 billion in cuts to mandatory benefit programs, including US$248 billion from Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly. It also counts savings of US$1 trillion over 10 years from the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The deficit reduction plan represents an economic bookend to the US$447 billion in tax cuts and new public works spending that Obama has proposed as a short-term measure to stimulate the economy and create jobs.
He is submitting his deficit fighting plan to a joint committee of Congress that is charged with recommending deficit reductions of up to US$1.5 trillion over 10 years.
Obama's plan has little chance of passing Congress, where Republicans control the House of Representatives. Republicans staunchly oppose tax increases and want spending cuts to reduce debt.
Congress's senior Republican, House Speaker John Boehner, has said no such legislation will pass.
The populist pitch in Obama's speech, however, could offer political benefits ahead of next year's elections. The plan could appeal to Americans, many of whom believe the deficit cannot be reduced by spending cuts alone, according to some polls.
It could also energize Obama's fellow Democrats, who have been clamoring for the president to take tougher positions against Republicans.
"We cannot just cut our way out of this hole," the president said. He noted he is among the millionaires who should face higher tax rates than the middle class and said: "It is only right we ask everyone to pay their fair share."
Obama's recommendation to a joint congressional committee served as a sharp counterpoint to Republican lawmakers, who have insisted tax increases should play no part in taming the nation's escalating national debt. The new taxes predominantly would hit wealthy Americans, ending their Bush-era tax cuts and limiting their deductions.
The core of the president's plan totals just more than US$2 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years. It combines the new taxes with US$580 billion in cuts to mandatory benefit programs, including US$248 billion from Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly. It also counts savings of US$1 trillion over 10 years from the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
The deficit reduction plan represents an economic bookend to the US$447 billion in tax cuts and new public works spending that Obama has proposed as a short-term measure to stimulate the economy and create jobs.
He is submitting his deficit fighting plan to a joint committee of Congress that is charged with recommending deficit reductions of up to US$1.5 trillion over 10 years.
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