Biden acknowledges he, Obama want to raise $1 trillion in taxes on top earners

[yota691]

Biden acknowledges he, Obama want to raise $1 trillion in taxes on top earners

Published October 05, 2012

FoxNews.com

Oct. 4, 2012: Vice President Joe Biden speaks in Council Bluffs, Iowa, Thursday. (AP)

For everyone who claims the Obama administration wants a $1 trillion tax hike, Joe Biden has a message: Yes, we do.

The vice president was referring Thursday to the Democrats' pledge to let the Bush-era tax rates for households making $250,000 and up expire at the end of the year, while maintaining current rates for other Americans. Republicans have called for maintaining the current rates for all Americans.

The call for a tax hike on top earners was hardly new, but Biden's characteristic bluntness gave Republicans fresh fodder to criticize the Democratic ticket just days after the vice president said the middle class has been buried during the past four years.

"On top of the trillions of dollars in spending that we have already cut, we're going to ask the wealthy to pay more. My heart breaks. Come on man," Biden said, during a stop in the battleground state of Iowa.

Biden said Romney and other Republicans often say "'Obama and Biden want to raise taxes by a trillion dollars.' Guess what? Yes, we do in one regard: We want to let that trillion dollar tax cut expire so the middle class doesn't have to bear the burden of all that money going to the super-wealthy. That's not a tax raise. That's called fairness where I come from."

Mitt Romney's running mate pounced on the quote at a campaign stop Thursday night in Virginia.

"What we don’t need is a trillion-dollar tax increase," Ryan said. "What we don’t need is a tax increase on our successful job creators that will cost us 700,000 jobs in just two years."

Ryan Williams, a spokesman for Romney, said Biden's comment revealed an uncomfortable truth for Democrats.

"Fresh off admitting that America's middle class has been `buried' over the last four years, Vice President Biden went a step further today and fully embraced the president's job-killing tax increases. The choice facing Americans in this election gets clearer every day," Williams said.

Just Tuesday, Biden said that middle class has been "buried" during the past four years, a statement that Republicans immediately seized upon as an unwitting indictment of the Obama administration. It is all part of a pattern in which Republicans have characterized the former U.S. senator as a gaffe-prone liability for Obama on the campaign trail, trying to undermine his role as a vocal, effective surrogate.

But Biden is taking aim of his own, saying that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney renounced his own tax cut during Wednesday's presidential debate.

At a campaign stop in Iowa, where early voting has already begun, Biden said Romney and running mate Paul Ryan have proposed a $5 trillion tax cut that is the "centerpiece" of their campaign.

During the debate, Romney denied he plans to cut taxes, saying an across-the-board cut in tax rates will be offset by the elimination of unspecified deductions and exemptions.

"Last night we found out (Romney) doesn't have a $5 trillion tax cut. I guess he outsourced that to China," Biden quipped.

While reviewers generally said Romney scored more political points than Obama during the first presidential debate Wednesday night, Biden insisted the president had done well.

Obama "put forward a clear, specific plan" during the debate, Biden told about 650 people at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs. But he said Obama had trouble figuring out Romney's positions on issues.

"It's hard to keep up" with Romney and Ryan, Biden said. "You never know what game Gov. Romney is going to come with."

While many of his attacks were delivered with a smile, Biden said Romney's flip-flops on taxes and failure to offer specifics raised questions about his character.

"Ultimately, presidential races, unlike any other race, get down to character. They get down to the character of the man or woman and the character of their convictions: Do they mean what they say and will they do what they say," Biden said. "What I find fascinating, though, is that on nearly every issue, they don't tell you what they are for anymore, and they deliberately misrepresent what they say we are for. You saw it again last night in the debate."

Biden's visit to Iowa was his sixth this year. Obama won Iowa in 2008, and polls show him with a narrow lead this year

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/10/04/biden-acknowledges-obama-want-to-raise-1t-in-taxes-on-wealthy/#ixzz28QZTJU00

[Snotrocket]

I saw Paul Ryan comment on this last night. He said "Well, he's half right.....it's more like 2 trillion."

[sandstorm]

Hey crazy-uncle joe bite me.......if the government was the answer.....then our problems would all be solved.

whats fair?? How about quit giving our tax dollars to terrorisrts. how about....we grow the economy then get out of debt...so we can take care of our own. Yourve blown almost half that......on losers like solyndra and green energy. what a tard

[Elixirbaby]

The distribution of wealth towards the wealthy has grown enormously in the last decade while at the same time middle class and the poor income has shrunk. So the theory of giving the wealthy more money so they help create jobs is bogus. IMO. Taxation should be fair across the board for everyone. Make more, pay more. Make less, pay less. Wanna give the wealthy tax incentives, then create the jobs, then you get your tax break. Don’t give tax breaks first In hopes of them creating jobs.

[cris]

Well...Enjoy your tax hikes, because higher taxes on business

gets passed on to the consumer

[Kimjackie]

The distribution of wealth towards the wealthy has grown enormously in the last decade while at the same time middle class and the poor income has shrunk. So the theory of giving the wealthy more money so they help create jobs is bogus. IMO. Taxation should be fair across the board for everyone. Make more, pay more. Make less, pay less. Wanna give the wealthy tax incentives, then create the jobs, then you get your tax break. Don’t give tax breaks first In hopes of them creating jobs.

I am barely in that middle class level but I still dont think we should tax the wealthy more. Most of those people have businesses and they work hard and pay out all sorts of taxes. If they receive a tax hike it WILL be passed down to the people who use those services or buy their products so the end game is that the consumer will pay more, you and me. We need to keep all taxes low and the revenue from us spending more because we have more money and businesses hiring more people who are now paying taxes will bring in a lot of money to the fed govt. We must not penalize those people who have worked hard and earned decent money because in the end we all pay.

Edited for spelling

Edited October 5, 2012 by Kimjackie

[Jaxinjersey]

The distribution of wealth towards the wealthy has grown enormously in the last decade while at the same time middle class and the poor income has shrunk. So the theory of giving the wealthy more money so they help create jobs is bogus. IMO. Taxation should be fair across the board for everyone. Make more, pay more. Make less, pay less. Wanna give the wealthy tax incentives, then create the jobs, then you get your tax break. Don’t give tax breaks first In hopes of them creating jobs.

Hi Elixir... interesting post, thanks. BUT, the government shouldn't incentivise hiring through tax "promises"... that's "bribery" from one perspective, and "extortion" from another. In other words, it's immoral, and perhaps unconstitutional, to mandate hiring that way. The government's only responsibility in the "employment arena" is to create/nurture the business environment... and let those who hire, do so in their best interest. Lowering taxes does that. It's the same with corporate taxes.... lower the corporate rate first, and allow corporations to bring the money back home.

Make more = pay more. Correct! They already do.

Make less = pay less. Correct! They already do... or don't! LOL

[jonjon]

Ha Ha Ha!

If Exxon pays double in taxes and operational cost, the price of gas will go up four times. $16.00 a gallon.

Only the idiots in this country thinks it's OK for the government to loot the private sector.

Every dime that's taken away by the government cost the consumer twenty cents.

The rich get richer and the poor stay stupid.

[Goldiegirl]

Well...Enjoy your tax hikes, because higher taxes on business

gets passed on to the consumer

Higher taxes on business cuts jobs.

[DinarWhiz]

http://www.fairtax.org/site/PageServer

This is it

[Snotrocket]

Hi Elixir... interesting post, thanks. BUT, the government shouldn't incentivise hiring through tax "promises"... that's "bribery" from one perspective, and "extortion" from another. In other words, it's immoral, and perhaps unconstitutional, to mandate hiring that way. The government's only responsibility in the "employment arena" is to create/nurture the business environment... and let those who hire, do so in their best interest. Lowering taxes does that. It's the same with corporate taxes.... lower the corporate rate first, and allow corporations to bring the money back home.

Make more = pay more. Correct! They already do.

Make less = pay less. Correct! They already do... or don't! LOL

As a small business owner (14 employees) I can assure you that the motivation to take risk isn't so I can "create jobs".....it is to make money. Providing a good and/or service that people want at a competitive price is the objective. Hiring people (providing jobs) is the happy outcome of growth (because if I could do it all myself - I would). Government involvement in my business lowers my motivation to hire and removes my incentive to grow.

You're absolutely right Jax. I make more - I pay and hire more. I make less - well, if I'm not getting a raise, my employees sure as hell aren't getting one either.....

[caz1104]

The distribution of wealth towards the wealthy has grown enormously in the last decade while at the same time middle class and the poor income has shrunk. So the theory of giving the wealthy more money so they help create jobs is bogus. IMO. Taxation should be fair across the board for everyone. Make more, pay more. Make less, pay less. Wanna give the wealthy tax incentives, then create the jobs, then you get your tax break. Don’t give tax breaks first In hopes of them creating jobs.

While I agree with u in most cases Elix,sorry not this time. Taxing folks more has never induced productivity in job creation. Taxing success more is great if its not you thats being taxed. My money is just as hard earned as the next guy and the thought that I should pay more because I make more is preposterous imo. So should we penalize those that are successfull and celebrate those that are not? The gov loves it when it can deflect they're inadequacies & failures away from the real problems such as spending & waste. We as citizens should not allow this to happen. By the way I'm a supporter of the "fair tax"-Peace

As a small business owner (14 employees) I can assure you that the motivation to take risk isn't so I can "create jobs".....it is to make money. Providing a good and/or service that people want at a competitive price is the objective. Hiring people (providing jobs) is the happy outcome of growth (because if I could do it all myself - I would). Government involvement in my business lowers my motivation to hire and removes my incentive to grow.

You're absolutely right Jax. I make more - I pay and hire more. I make less - well, if I'm not getting a raise, my employees sure as hell aren't getting one either.....

Hi Elixir... interesting post, thanks. BUT, the government shouldn't incentivise hiring through tax "promises"... that's "bribery" from one perspective, and "extortion" from another. In other words, it's immoral, and perhaps unconstitutional, to mandate hiring that way. The government's only responsibility in the "employment arena" is to create/nurture the business environment... and let those who hire, do so in their best interest. Lowering taxes does that. It's the same with corporate taxes.... lower the corporate rate first, and allow corporations to bring the money back home.

Make more = pay more. Correct! They already do.

Make less = pay less. Correct! They already do... or don't! LOL

[Deltori]

The distribution of wealth towards the wealthy has grown enormously in the last decade while at the same time middle class and the poor income has shrunk. So the theory of giving the wealthy more money so they help create jobs is bogus. IMO. Taxation should be fair across the board for everyone. Make more, pay more. Make less, pay less. Wanna give the wealthy tax incentives, then create the jobs, then you get your tax break. Don’t give tax breaks first In hopes of them creating jobs.

Elixirbaby come on- are you buying the crap they sell you about how the rich don't pay taxes really? Are you aware of how many Americans actually pay any tax at all? Less than half. Then you take the remainder and look into how much of the total tax burden is payed by the "so-called" richest 10-20% and then you look me in the eye and tell me that it's not fair they aren;t paying their fair share. At what point do we say "hey too much of the total tax burden (like 80%) is payed by too few of society (meaning80% payed by about 10% of the popoulation) and then come out and say hey they still aren't paying their fair share!!!! Disgusting selfish way of thinking if you ask me.

COME ON PEOPLE look at the math and stop being manipulated to think that it's the other guys that need to pay more (especially when they are already paying wayyy more than you). UGH the current tax code deals in percentages which by nayture makes it a more fair system. 15% of my income is almost nothing compared to 15% of a wealthy persons income so by definition they are paying more than me....duh!

Now in our system you can take write offs if you spend enough money in certain areas such as giving to charity, or investing in new businesses or other community building practices. It's a write off because it helps "others" when you spend there (designated by the government). So if they spent a ton of money in those designated areas which helps other causes then they have in fact payed their tax burden (just in a different way). Why does eceryone assume they just didn't pay anything? I gaurantee you that most people complaining about that don't have a clue how it works and furthermore probably didn't pay much in taxes (if any at all) themselves.

[Snotrocket]

As a small business owner (14 employees) I can assure you that the motivation to take risk isn't so I can "create jobs".....it is to make money. Providing a good and/or service that people want at a competitive price is the objective. Hiring people (providing jobs) is the happy outcome of growth (because if I could do it all myself - I would). Government involvement in my business lowers my motivation to hire and removes my incentive to grow.

You're absolutely right Jax. I make more - I pay and hire more. I make less - well, if I'm not getting a raise, my employees sure as hell aren't getting one either.....

And another thing.....I provide 100% healthcare cost for my employees. If Obamacare is implemented and the cost goes up.....that will change. I don't want to decrease coverage or force them to pay a percentage.....I simply can't afford to give such a generous benefit.