Why I Left Liberalism #18 - Willful Ignorance: Obama vs. Tax Cuts
IBD Editorials ^ | 2/12/09
One of the things that haunts me about Barack Obama—and there are many—is his unwillingness to accept indisputable facts, evidently due to his unswerving adherence to leftist ideology. One example, which I have cited before, was from a debate between Obama and Hillary Clinton last April:
Moderator Charles Gibson: n each instance, when the [captial gains] rate dropped, revenues from the tax increased. The government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down. So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?
Obama: Well, Charlie, what I’ve said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness. We saw an article today which showed that the top 50 hedge fund managers made $29 billion last year—$29 billion for 50 individuals. And part of what has happened is that those who are able to work the stock market and amass huge fortunes on capital gains are paying a lower tax rate than their secretaries. That’s not fair.
So even before Barack Obama clinched the Democrat ticket, he was already admitting that despite the fact that capital gains tax cuts benefit the economy and ultimately increase tax revenue, he did not care. The leftist ideologue wants fairness (at least what he considers to be “fair”).
IBD Editorials ^ | 2/12/09
One of the things that haunts me about Barack Obama—and there are many—is his unwillingness to accept indisputable facts, evidently due to his unswerving adherence to leftist ideology. One example, which I have cited before, was from a debate between Obama and Hillary Clinton last April:
Moderator Charles Gibson: n each instance, when the [captial gains] rate dropped, revenues from the tax increased. The government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down. So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?
Obama: Well, Charlie, what I’ve said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness. We saw an article today which showed that the top 50 hedge fund managers made $29 billion last year—$29 billion for 50 individuals. And part of what has happened is that those who are able to work the stock market and amass huge fortunes on capital gains are paying a lower tax rate than their secretaries. That’s not fair.
So even before Barack Obama clinched the Democrat ticket, he was already admitting that despite the fact that capital gains tax cuts benefit the economy and ultimately increase tax revenue, he did not care. The leftist ideologue wants fairness (at least what he considers to be “fair”).