Republicans are distorting the facts, and we need to set the record straight: Obama’s budget asks far less of the rich than President Reagan or Nixon did. Just look at the graph below.
This is ridiculous. The media has been obsessing about President Obama’s plan to roll back the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans—from 35% to 39.6%—even asking if that makes him a socialist.
But do you see what tax rate the wealthiest Americans paid on the top portion of their earnings at the end of Ronald Reagan’s first term? 50%.
Under Richard Nixon? 70%. Under Dwight Eisenhower? 91%!
Shocking, right?
And for all the whining about rolling back Bush’s irresponsible tax cuts, the truth is that Obama’s plan cuts taxes for 95% of working Americans. Further, it closes huge tax loopholes for oil companies, hedge funds and corporations that ship jobs overseas so that we can invest in the priorities that will get our economy back on track.
And how do those tax cuts for the wealthy work for America? Look at the graph again and see the low taxes for the wealthy for around the nine years prior to 1929, which is when what famous economic event started? I think that was something called the Great Depression. So, in more recent history, George W. Bush cut taxes on the wealthy and we got this stinkin’ recession. When will we learn? [The Party of No can’t learn.]
Conservatives love the good ol’ days, and this is one place where I say let’s go back to Reagan or Nixon. Think what could be done. Budget balanced! Social Security secured! Medicare for every American that needs it! Infrastructure fixed! Good educations providing smarter citizens so this stupid stuff doesn’t happen again!
Regards,
Jim
Andy Hailey