Will Voters Listen? Obama vs. GOP on $180 Billion Tax, Infrastructure Plan

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/entry/6420/will_voters_listenobama_vs._gop_on_180_billion_tax_infrastructure_plan/

Thursday September 9 5:07 pm

By Art Levine

In two major speeches this week, President Obama sharpened the contrast with the GOP's obstructionism over the economy with his proposals to spend $50 billion on infrastructure and provide as much as $130 billion in tax cuts and write-offs for businesses—on top of a $30 billion small business lending bill stalled in the Senate.

Even though the President's tax proposals are drawn, in part, from the Republican playbook, the GOP leadership, predictably, hit the proposals as not going far enough because the President opposes making permanent the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans.

But with high unemployment, the prospect of an election disaster in November and the "Party of No"-driven political climate that has turned "stimulus" into a dirty word, President Obama's efforts to offer an economic way forward is ultimately a political maneuver to underscore GOP's opposition to any economic measures except tax-cutting for the rich.

Realistically, most observers believe, the $50 billion infrastructure plan has little to no chance of passing in this Congress, and the pro-business tax breaks are likely to be compromised in Congressional horse-trading over extending the Bush tax cuts.

For many progressives pundits and advocates, it was heartening that the President used some of his toughest rhetoric yet in lashing out at House Minority Leader John Boehner and the GOP's insistence on making permanent all tax cuts. In his speech Wednesday, President Obama pointed out:

Make no mistake: he and his party believe we should also give a permanent tax cut to the wealthiest two percent of Americans. With all the other budgetary pressures we have -- with all the Republicans' talk about wanting to shrink the deficit -- they would have us borrow $700 billion over the next ten years to give a tax cut of about $100,000 to folks who are already millionaires. These are among the only folks who saw their incomes rise when Republicans were in charge. And these are folks who are less likely to spend the money, which is why economists don't think tax breaks for the wealthy would do much to boost the economy.

So let me be clear to Mr. Boehner and everyone else: we should not hold middle class tax cuts hostage any longer. We are ready, this week, to give tax cuts to every American making $250,000 or less. For any income over this amount, the tax rates would go back to what they were under President Clinton. This isn't to punish folks who are better off -- it's because we can't afford the $700 billion price tag...

FULL story at link.