These Rich People Support Obama's Millionaire Tax

Lisa Du | Oct. 11, 2011, 2:20 PM | 2,252 |   x You have successfully emailed the post.

President Barack Obama's proposed "Buffett Rule" has been nothing short of controversial, and everyone is weighing in on the feasibility of the tax on millionaires and what it means for America. From denouncements of class warfare by Congressional Republication to showers of support from Americans, we've heard about it all. 

The proposed legislation, part of President Obama's overall deficit reduction plan, calls for raising the minimum tax rate on those who make over $1 million in income per year.

Among the rich, opinions have also been mixed. We've heard from those that are against the policy, but there are many who have shown willingness to be taxed to help the American economy out of its rut.

From from hedge fund owner John Arnold to Def Jam's Russell Simmons, we rounded up their words of support.

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PLAN REJECTED: Obama's Approval Rating Falls To All Time Low

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The big speech that was supposed to save Barack Obama's presidency was a flop, according to a new Bloomberg poll.

Obama's approval rating stands at 45 percent, the lowest point of his presidency, with a growing number of independents jumping ship.

62 percent disapprove of his handling of the economy, up 9 in six months.

Only 36 percent approve of his job creation efforts; 30 percent approve of how he's handled the budget deficit; 39 percent approve of how he's handled health care.

These rating all represent lows for his presidency.

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PHOTOS: President Obama's No Good, Very Bad Week

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After a summer of bad news and political gridlock, September isn't shaping up to be much better for the Obama administration.

The president's much anticipated jobs plan got a tepid response this week, even as Obama embarked on a campaign-style road trip to sell the plan to voters. Even members of his own party were lukewarm.

If that wasn't bad enough, Obama's poll numbers dropped to record lows and special election losses sent Democrats into a panic over their prospects for 2012.

And that was all by Tuesday. Here's a look at the President's grim week.

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Obama's Jobs Plan: Mostly More Of The Same

Obama's Jobs Plan: Mostly More Of The Same Login With Facebook | Login With Twitter | Login | Register Politix Contributors Home Tech Entertainment Wall Street Markets Strategy Sports Lifestyle Politics EuropeData Misc. Your Money Video Latest Your News Politics Home Horse Race State & Muni Governance Threats Big Picture HiveTapePRContributors Follow us on Facebook and get updates from Politics Contributors posted directly to your news feed 

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Email Zip Obama's Jobs Plan: Mostly More Of The Same Megan McArdle, The Atlantic | Sep. 9, 2011, 4:36 AM | 163 | 3 A A A   x Email Article From To Email Sent! You have successfully emailed the post. Megan McArdle URL Megan McArdle is a Business and Economics Editor for The Atlantic

Recent PostsCourt Denies Both ObamaCare ChallengesCongress Needs To Decide Whether The USPS Should Function As A...One Reason Why The Government Will Have A Difficult Time Suing The... Obama's New Stimulus Obama's Job Plan: Mostly More of the Same Obama's Jobs Package: A Smart Plan, if Not a Game Changer

So we've been standing by all week for Obama's big jobs speech, promised in response to the awful jobs numbers last month.  Here are the details, as outlined by the White House; I've added in the amounts on the major categories as best I can figure them:

Tax cuts: $250 billionPayroll tax rebate on first $5 million in payroll, which the president says will reach 98% of American companies, plus complete rebate for new hires or raisesExtending payroll tax cutExtending 100% expensing of business investment(A bunch of regulatory streamlining that is likely to have little effect and is bizarrely classed as a tax cut)Tax credits for hiring unemployed veterans, particularly those with service-connected disabilities$4,000 per worker for hiring workers who have been unemployed for more than six monthsInfrastructure: about $100 billion$50 billion for new infrastructure projects$10 billion for an infrastructure bank$15 billion to rehab vacant and foreclosed homes/businessesSome undisclosed sum for getting high speed wireless to "98% of American"$25 million to rehab schoolsDirect assistance: About $100 billion (?)Continuing the extension of unemployment benefitsVarious retraining/wage support ideas that are supposed to help the structurally displaced to transition into new careers.$35 billion for preserving/hiring teachers, cops and firefighter.

All this will be paid for by asking the Supercommittee to find another $400 billion or so in new taxes and spending.

So, what do I think?That the president apparently has some sort of numerical compulsive disorder which has caused him to become fixated on "98%"; his stump speeches have always been larded with promises that 98% of American families would get all manner of goodies, while paying absolutely nothing in new taxes, but the mystical figure is now being extended into the realm of companies and high-speed wireless internet subscribers. But aside from the snark, I think that it's generally solid on the spending/tax cut side. The targeted employment stuff is basically a decent plan--we should be aggressively looking for ways to keep the long term unemployed from turning into the permanently unemployed.  At worst, we put a little extra money into the pockets of taxpayers.  The biggest worry is that the stimulus from the accelerated depreciation won't actually make much difference in America--Austan Goolsbee's work suggests that these sorts of tax cuts mostly end up in the pockets of people who produce investment goods, and many of those people are not in America.The infrastructure stuff will be fine, if we choose good projects--America needs roads and airports and so forth. But as we discovered with the previous round, the better the project, the worse the stimulus.  There are no terrific infrastructure projects sitting around, waiting to break ground next week . . . nay, not even if we streamline the regulatory red tape.  
For that matter I'm not even sure that the president has the authority to streamline most of that red tape, and I'm highly skeptical that Congress is going to get busy undoing several decades worth of environmental and anti-corruption protections.  So most of that $100 billion is not going to be spent next year--presumably, even the school rehab is going to have to wait until summer, when what we need is jobs right now.The direct assistance stuff is a little bit mixed: yes to unemployment insurance extension, meh on maintaining government payrolls.  Transition assistance is good in theory, but in practice, all the programs I'm aware of have very little proven success at actually improving peoples' employment prospects.
But while all the proposals are well enough, they're hardly an exciting new direction for the administration.  These aren't new ideas; they're things we're already doing, like unemployment assistance and the payroll tax cuts, or things that Obama has been proposing for a while, like the infrastructure bank.  Even the "new" proposals, like added money for infrastructure, is a retread of ARRA.Economically, this is mostly treading water while we wait for something to change.  And politically, though liberals are cheering the more aggressive tone of the speech, I'm pretty skeptical that this is going to turn around Obama's sliding poll numbers: as one of the talking heads on Fox News said, he needed a game changer, and this was small ball. 

That's if it passes.  And there's rather a big poison pill for Congress in here: Obama has proposed no pay-for.  Or rather, he proposed that Congress figure out how to pay for it:
The agreement we passed in July will cut government spending by about $1 trillion over the next ten years. It also charges this Congress to come up with an additional $1.5 trillion in savings by Christmas. Tonight, I'm asking you to increase that amount so that it covers the full cost of the American Jobs Act. And a week from Monday, I'll be releasing a more ambitious deficit plan -- a plan that will not only cover the cost of this jobs bill, but stabilize our debt in the long run.One gets the dreadful feeling that the more ambitious plan may consist of asking Congress to find another couple of trillion under the couch cushions.

As MuniLass said over Twitter,
Obama: "Here's the deal: I take credit for the new spending now; you take credit for making politically unpopular cuts later."
This is becoming a signature move for Obama.  As far as I can recall, he has never taken the risk of proposing anything even potentially unpopular; even with something like health care, he let Congress take the lead.  Eh voila--anything you like in the plan is a product of his wise leadership, while anything unfortunate is, y'know, the not-perfect stuff he had to sign in order to get Americans health care.

But it's hardly been a rousing success when Democrats tried to maneuver the Republicans into putting their sticky little fingerprints all over the unpopular parts of their plans while taking credit for the successes, which is what this boils down to.  During the speech, Justin Wolfers tweeted to the effect that the GOP wouldn't dare vote against these hard-to-dislike provisions.  I take it that this sentiment is common among liberals, who expressed approval that Obama was finally taking it to Republicans.
I'm less sure.  For one thing, they've got a legitimate critique: it isn't paid for.  Of course, if you want more stimulus, you don't want it to be paid for next year . . . but it isn't paid for at all.  Select committees are turning into the Laffer Curve of the left: every time you want more money to pay for something, assign a committee to make unspecified cuts years in the future.  Republican complaints that the spending will happen and the pay-fors won't aren't unreasonable, and I suspect they'll get some traction with independents.For another, they don't have to let it come to the floor; they control the House, and they have the filibuster in

the Senate.  Six months from now, how many constituents will even remember that this speech took place?  Unfortunately for Obama, most of the people who will remember live in DC, which doesn't have any votes in the legislature.

Should they pass it? Yes, at least the tax credits and the extension of unemployment benefits.  A career is a terrible thing to waste.  
But it's hard for Obama to call for altruism on the part of Congressional Republicans when he wasn't willing to take the manly risk of saying out loud what taxes he'll raise or spending he'll cut.  The speech may have appeased his base.  But I doubt it did much to advance either of what were clearly his twin goals here: enacting policy, and wooing independents. Please follow Politics on Twitter and Facebook.

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Receive email updates on new comments!cvszEmail3 Comments 1 0 Flag as Offensive Conservative Reader on Sep 9, 4:48 AM said: This is the bold plan that took him so long to formulate while languishing in Martha's Vineyard? Reply 0 1 Flag as Offensive Maybe he should have gone to Texas on Sep 9, 5:20 AM said: @Conservative Reader: to fight wildfires with Ricky Goodhair instead. Except Ricky's off campaigning instead of working in TX.

sauce for the goose............

Hey it's mostly tax cuts. GOPers should be in heaven or do you now admit tax cuts don't do much? Reply 3 0 Flag as Offensive Skull & Bones on Sep 9, 4:55 AM said: It will never work.....we're doomed......... Reply Join the discussion with Business Insider
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What Obama's Jobs Plan Could Mean For US GDP

  x You have successfully emailed the post. Analysts are already examining the impact of Obama's new jobs push/stimulus.

Here's some excellent work from Nomura on the odds of an agreement, and what the deal would mean to the economy.

There are some dynamics that could pressure both sides into agreement on a limited set of proposals. The current poor economic conditions and the low public standing of the President and Congress in the wake of the debt ceiling debacle, could lead both parties to decide that it’s in their best respective interests to reach a limited agreement. Obama saw his job approval rating over the month of July slip 5 points to 42%, where it still sits today (based on daily Gallup poll results). Early indications are that both sides are somewhat chastened by the public outrage over the dysfunctional behavior displayed during the debt ceiling debate and have an interest in showing the public that Washington can function properly.

Still, forging a bipartisan compromise on The American Jobs Act will be difficult at best, given that Congress already has a full agenda for the rest of the year: 1) the Budget Control Act process that requires the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (JSCDR) to agree upon $1.5 trillion in deficit savings over 10 years by 23 November (see US Special Comment: The deficit-cutting dream team – or not, 12 August); and 2) the 2012 fiscal year appropriations process to keep the federal government running when the 2011 fiscal year ends on 30 September. To pay for The American Jobs Act, President Obama has asked that the JSCDR come up with nearly $2 trillion in deficit savings ($1.5tn + $447bn). To meet its charge of coming up with the necessary deficit reduction, the president urged the JSCDR to include entitlement reform, close corporate tax loopholes, and raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans. Some of the measures suggested by the president are taken from the report released late last year by the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (also known as the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan), which indeed may finally get its chance to serve as a handy guide to deficit reduction and tax reform.

The passage of measures within The American Jobs Act has the potential to alter our baseline forecast for US economic growth. For example, extending the 2% social security tax cut for employees would raise growth in Q1 2012 real GDP by as much as 1.0 percentage point, and by 0.5 percentage points in 2012 overall.

See here for the full Obama bill factsheet >

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6 Key Points From Goldman On Obama's Jobs Plan

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Goldman spells out 6 key points in regards to the Obama jobs speech.

We summarize.

At $447 billion, the plan is a bit bigger than expected, coming to about 3% of GDP.$253 billion comes from tax cuts, mainly payroll tax cuts.The spending side --- which includes state aid and infrastructure -- is the least likely part to be approved.The plan includes labor-market reforms, including "bridge to work" plans. Expect Congress to support these plans, because the cost is probably low.The President will continue to work on a mortgage refinance plan, but there are no details.Don't expect a resolution on this until about November, as any "deal" will likely get worked into the super-committee agreement.

Earlier we posted some of Nomura's analysis on the plan's odds of passage and what it could do to GDP >

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TIRED OF THE SPIN? More People* Tuned Into CNN Following Obama's Speech Than Maddow Or Hannity

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This is telling.

Following President Obama's big address on jobs before a joint session of Congress -- during which he encouraged (directed) the GOP to stop politicizing and cooperate -- more viewers in the (much-coveted) demo (25-54) tuned into Piers Morgan's coverage on CNN than did to either Rachel Maddow or Sean Hannity.

That second result is particularly stunning considering the powerhouse ratings Fox News usually enjoys night in and night out.

It's worth noting that significantly more people watched the actual speech on Fox News, but by 9pm had clicked away and apparently over to CNN.  (A fact the GOP may want to take note of since during that hour Hannity was featuring interviews and speech reactions with House majority leader Eric Cantor and GOP Senator Rand Paul.)

Another contributing factor may have been the news that there was evidence of a new terrorist threat tied to the Sept. 11th anniversary and aimed at Washington and New York.  As we've seen time and again this year viewers tend to turn to CNN for breaking news coverage.

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The Complete Guide To What To Expect From Barack Obama's Jobs Speech Tonight

  x You have successfully emailed the post. President Barack Obama will address a Joint Session of Congress tonight at 7 p.m. to present his economic growth plan, "The American Jobs Act" to the American people.

The speech comes at a pivotal moment in Obama's presidency, under pressure from both sides of the aisle to get Americans back to work.

His plan may top $400 billion — a number that will undoubtedly draw criticism from Republican lawmakers worried about debt and deficits.

Obama has not shared his plan with congressional Republicans, despite their requests to be consulted before the speech, and he may even present his proposal as a formal bill that he will demand Congress take up and bring to a vote.

Speaker of the House John Boehner has invited more than a dozen executives from "job creating" companies who he says are impacted by the Obama administration's regulatory actions.

Here's what we've learned about Obama's plan so far from administration and Democratic sources:

The single-largest component of the bill will be an extension and expansion of the payroll tax cut to benefit employers as well as their employees. The estimated cost of this measure is between $120 billion to $140 billion.

He is also expected to unveil a new small business tax cut, which combined with increased transfer payments to state and local governments would cost $100 billion.

Obama will push for the extension of unemployment benefits, and may introduce a job creation initiative modeled on a Georgia program to allow business to take on unemployed workers for a trial period without paying them. (The workers would receive unemployment benefits in lieu of salary.) These plans would run to at least $50 billion.

The long-promised infrastructure bank to invest in schools, bridges and other projects would cost another $100 billion.

The plan is "fully paid for" through a combination of closing corporate tax loopholes and "asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share." It's not clear whether these are immediate offsets, or if the savings will be realized over 10 years.

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Bachmann Goes Rogue, Will Offer Rebuttal To Obama's Jobs Address

  x You have successfully emailed the post. Despite the Republican leadership's decision to allow President Barack Obama's jobs speech to stand on its own, Rep. Michele Bachmann will provide her own response to the address.

Fox News' Chad Pergram tweets: "Bachmann to speak after POTUS tonight with her own presser at 8:30 pm ET on Capitol Hill."

After a dismal performance GOP debate, Bachmann will try to refocus her campaign around attacking Obama's leadership of the economy.

White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer revealed that Obama's plan will be called "The American Jobs Act." The president will address a Joint Session of Congress at 7 p.m. 

Bachmann also gave her own response to Obama's State of the Union address in January after the official GOP response, and infamously failed to look in the camera broadcasting her speech on live television. Her office said she was looking at the camera streaming her remarks on the "Tea Party Express" website.

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GOP Lining Up To Oppose Obama's Jobs Plan — Even Before It's Announced

  x You have successfully emailed the post. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered the sharpest critique yet of President Barack Obama's jobs plan — two days before it is to be formally announced.

Speaking on the Senate floor to open the fall legislative session after a five-week vacation, McConnell said he is growing confident that Obama's plan will be bad for the country.

"While I have no doubt the President will propose many things on Thursday that, when looked at individually, sound pretty good, or that he’ll call them all bipartisan," he said. "I’m equally certain that, taken as whole, they’ll represent more of the same failed approach that’s only made things worse over the past few years, and resulted in even fewer jobs than when he started."

McConnell added that Washington needs to stop "thinking it's the center of the Universe," and recenter its policies around job creators. 

He also pushed back on Obama's assertion that opposition to his plan is an expression of partisanship.

"With all due respect, Mr. President, there’s a much simpler reason for opposing your economic proposals that has nothing to do with politics: they don’t work." he said.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid used his speech to criticize Republican opposition to jobs bills, saying "Republicans have distracted Congress from its most important responsibility – getting our economy back on track – time and again."

Earlier Tuesday, Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor expressed optimism that Republicans and Obama could find some common ground — but restated their opposition to some of the bolder options Obama is considering.

Read the full speech here:

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Obama's Uncle Arrested In Massachusetts On DUI Charge

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An uncle of President Barack Obama was arrested last week on drunken driving charges in Massachusetts, the Associated Press reports. 

Onyango Obama allegedly failed to stop at an intersection, nearly hitting a police cruiser, and failed a field sobriety test. He is being held by immigration authorities.

A source tells CNN that Onyango Obama, a half-brother of the president's father originally from Kenya, "was not legally in the United States and has been previously ordered removed from the country."

After his arrest he reportedly told officers "I think I will call the White House."

The White House did not comment on the 67-year-old Obama's case.

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