President Obama Weighing Broad Overhaul for Income Tax

[cal04]

Source: NY Times

President Obama is considering whether to push early next year for an overhaul of the income tax code to lower rates and raise revenues in what would be his first major effort to begin addressing the long-term growth of the national debt.

While administration officials cautioned on Thursday that no decisions have been made and that any debate in Congress could take years, Mr. Obama has directed his economic team and Treasury Department analysts to review options for closing loopholes and simplifying income taxes for corporations and individuals, though the study of the corporate tax system is farther along, officials said.

The objective is to rid the code of its complex buildup of deductions, credits and exemptions, thereby broadening the base of taxes collected and allowing for lower rates — much like a bipartisan majority on Mr. Obama’s fiscal commission recommended last week in its final blueprint for reducing the debt through 2020.

Doing so would offer not only an opportunity to begin confronting the growth in the national debt but also a way to address warnings by American business that corporate tax rates and the costs of complying with the tax code are cutting into their global competitiveness.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/us/politics/10tax.html?hp

[BrklynLiberal]

1. If it actually happens, why do I feel it will not benefit the middle class and the less fortunate?

Big IF..considering who comprises his "economic team"

[Fearless]

37. +10000

[hay rick]

45. Maybe you're paying attention.

And learning from experience.

[slackmaster]

54. The middle class always gets hit

Every time they "overhaul" the system.

[harun]

62. History.

[stray cat]

2. About time - I hope it is a good plan!

[defendandprotect]

21. After the last two years of Obama, you're still hoping for reform that won't benefit the elite/rich?

Wow --

[Faygo Kid]

31. +1

Guaranteed that Alan Simpson gets a big tax break here. Families with modest deductions? Not so much.

[saigon68]

67. It will go Nowhere

IE = Single Payer

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

74. Tell me if you like it or you don't. Then I'll know if it's bad or good.

Respectively.

[otohara]

3. LOL

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Angry Dragon]

5. Do you have any extra popcorn??

:toast:

[lib2DaBone]

4. At this point.. I wish Mr. Obama wouldn't try and "Fix" anything more.

[Myrina]

9. New tax rates = 1% for the wealthy, 90% for the rest of us.

Just watch ..... :spank:

[defendandprotect]

22. Exactly ... !!

[SammyWinstonJack]

12. [phone]!!!!!

[Luciferous]

27. +1

[harun]

63. lol, so true.

[pa28]

6. Amazing. It's even the same language Simpson and Bowles adopted.

Close loopholes (end or curtail middle and lower class deductions), lower rates (rich get a break that makes the current deal look like a socialist nightmare) and "simplify" (you lose thousands in itemizations but you pay your accountant a few dollars less. Awesome right!)

Plus the Washington elite seems to have fallen in love with giving themselves a massive tax break so I'm sure this plan will have plenty of fans in the media. They'll gravely shake their heads and tell us about the need for shared pain but they'll actually be getting a tax break using the Simpson approach.

[defendandprotect]

24. +1 --

[Autumn]

7. I've thought that should happen for a long time,

but shit this makes me real fucking nervous. Mainly this part:

Doing so would offer not only an opportunity to begin confronting the growth in the national debt but also a way to address warnings by American business that corporate tax rates and the costs of complying with the tax code are cutting into their global competitiveness.

Why do I think we might be fucked?

[caseymoz]

13. Translation: corporations want to pay less so where are we going to get money? hmmm.

I'd also say let them move: they'd be hard pressed to find lower taxes for corporations than the US. Maybe Moldovia. A great place to move your business, I hear.

[defendandprotect]

25. +1000%

[Proletariatprincess]

1000+

[Sherman A1]

53. It did

Ronald Reagan was President and the middle class got screwed. I recall it very, very distinctly.

[Ozymanithrax]

8. If President Obama intends to fix the tax system, then why screw it up with the current tax plan.

I don't support what the President is doing now. I will be a hard sell on anything he attempts in the future. I don't trust the man.

[TheEuclideanOne]

11. Yes, very puzzling

Some politicians at least have the sense to recognize when they have screwed up and the sense to start running in the other direction or at least change the subject.

[harun]

64. Heard a similar question to Obama on NPR. How the current deal is going to give

the Republican's much more ammunition to say "We don't have the tax revenue to support any social programs, sorry".

[FormerDittoHead]

10. Howz about *just* closing those LOOPHOLES you said you'd close, Mr. President?

Just do ONE THING - don't wrap it up in some damn 10,000 page "bill" - just do ONE THING...

http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2010/10/16/weekly-address-gop-rewarding-corporations-create-jobs-overseas

The President lays out his agenda to foster investment here at home. He vows to close the tax loopholes for sending jobs and profits overseas the Congressional Republicans have tried to protect.

I suppose a "vow" is NOT a "promise"...

[Psephos]

78. +10 n/t

[PSPS]

14. "he objective is to rid the code of its complex buildup of deductions, credits and exemptions"

The objective is to rid the code of its complex buildup of deductions, credits and exemptions, thereby broadening the base of taxes collected and allowing for lower rates — much like a bipartisan majority on Mr. Obama’s fiscal commission recommended last week in its final blueprint for reducing the debt through 2020.

Obama is going to try to fuck us yet again. He's laying the groundwork to abolish deductions used primarily by the working-class, lower taxes on the rich and corporations and dismantle social security and other social programs. That's the essence of his catfood commission's "plan."

Obama has to go.

[FormerDittoHead]

15. Yes... "broadening the base of taxes collected.." Scary words indeed!

..and then lower the rates...

In other words, the rich will pay lower taxes. Surprise!

>Obama is going to try to fuck us yet again.

Here's my problem - BIG problem. It seems to me he already knows what the fuck he wants to do, what "can" be done with the Republicans, etc etc. He just has to "sell" it to us by promising us something we like (the rich will pay more) but then he'll have to "compromise" it away, to get to the point where he started - JUST LIKE THE PUBLIC OPTION.

[PSPS]

18. That makes assumptions I no longer make

The way Obama and his minions like Biden are trying to force this latest giveaway to the rich (his "compromise") down the throats of members of HIS OWN PARTY tells me where he stands. He's doing nothing to force anything down the throats of republicans. In fact, the "compromise" contains even more of the GOP wish list than they were asking for in the first place (de-funding social security, embracing the concept of dynasties with the estate tax rollback, etc.)

No, I'm afraid this tells us where Obama truly stands philosophically. He's one of them. He's not one of us.

Obama has to go.

[cdcfbw1]

32. That makes assumptions...

IMPEACH OBAMA!!
IMPEACH OBAMA!!

[No Elephants]

65. So that Biden, who "negotiated" the recent tax cut compromise with McConnell, would be Pres?

[Doctor_J]

35. Sounds exactly like something a Repuke would say

whoa. I want my time & money from 2008 back. I can use it to get the fuck out of this hell hole.

[DJ13]

16. lower rates and raise revenues

That sounds like one of those BS conservative sales pitches, like the supplyside rhetoric "lowering taxes increases revenues".

What a load of crap.

[unkachuck]

17. I'm starting....

....to cringe whenever he wants to do something....please Mr. Prez, maybe less is more.

[ibegurpard]

19. this is an interesting statement:

"though the study of the corporate tax system is farther along, officials said."

Why do I find this unsurprising?

[Warren Stupidity]

20. this is where we get our mortgage deduction removed surgically

in order to lower taxes on billionaires even more.

[tinrobot]

23. Yup!

[defendandprotect]

26. They might be trying to get it all in .... before the revolution???

[JDPriestly]

28. Just this morning, the White House white board guy

bragged about how Obama was going to continue the tax credits for parents whose children were in college and low-income people, etc. That's in a video.

And now this. Why not just let the tax cuts for the rich expire and pay off the deficit that way and then bring in tax relief for the middle income and poor?

I do not trust Obama to do this.

[MilesColtrane]

29. With a Republican House?

The time to try that was your first two years in office.

No, sorry, but any political capital you once had is long gone, chief.

[williesgirl]

30. This is NOT good news for the lower/middle classes. He's shown he really is a Repuke.

[Citizen Worker]

33. Here comes a flat tax, value added tax or will it be called a national sales tax? Whatever its

called it will not be working class friendly, I guarantee it.

[Doctor_J]

34. Ah, yes. Lower rates & raise revenues. Just like Reagan did

And there are some really, really stupid people who still believe that's possible.

[MrTriumph]

36. Children should not play with matches.

x

[Beartracks]

50. LOL - I thought you said machetes! n/t

[QC]

38. We're about to get screwed, aren't we?

I'm thinking we can say bye bye to the home mortgage deduction and hello to a flat tax and/or VAT.

Hopetastic!

[glinda]

39. By Global competitiveness do they mean their off shore Companies?

[OlympicBrian]

43. Yes and their record profits nt

[Frank Booth]

40. If done properly, this could be good reform, especially for individuals.

In the past, I've done work for a lot of people who make over a million dollars a year. It's shocking how little in taxes they pay. Many don't pay any income taxes at all because they expense everything. And they get away with it. If you can afford smart accountants and tax lawyers, you can pay very little in taxes.

[dflprincess]

41. I get very nervous whenever this adminstration starts talking about "reform" or any kind

It seems to be their code for "let's screw the working and middle classes again".

[stevebreeze]

42. A future presidential conversation between GW and Barack

Barack; It reminds me of the time I knocked down progressive Sally....
GW; You didn't knock her down! I did!
Barack; So you did, so you did, but I was the one who started kicking her.

[county worker]

44. This reads like a republican idea.

Get rid of any tax breaks working people have. JUST LET THE DAMNED TAX CUTS EXPIRE AND STFU Obama!

[ProudDad]

46. Hooboy, get the KY Jelly!

'cause we gonna' get FUCKED in the ass again!!!

"to address warnings by American business that corporate tax rates and the costs of complying with the tax code are cutting into their global competitiveness."

[tomg]

47. In the interests of

bipartisanship, he will probably put Gingrich in charge. Then we can use the Gingrich approach "to address warnings by American business that corporate tax rates and the costs of complying with the tax code are cutting into their global competitiveness." You know - let the rich decide how much they feel like paying. Problem solved.

[Kablooie]

48. I read they are considering dropping the home deduction.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

49. It should read, "GOP Weighing Broad Overhaul for Income Tax"

"President Obama Indicates Willingness to Compromise to Ensure Bi-partisanship"

[quakerboy]

51. I like simplify

the tax code has gotten fairly unwieldy. It should be simple. I made this much. I pay these progressive percentages. Done.

But everyone loves their own pet deduction. Charity givers, church supporters, homeowners, parents, prius buyers, hummer buyers. etc.

Lets separate these things. No more tax deductions. If we are going to give people money to encourage certain activities, lets just give them that money, separate from taxes.

[JCMach1]

52. Mr. President, you really want to try to run that through a repug congress?

[Democat]

55. The Republicans will write the new tax laws for him!

Watch.

[JCMach1]

57. Yeah, that's what scares me.

[tom_paine]

56. Obama is doing such a good job batting cleanup for the Bush Agenda.

Amazing.

Is he an alien space lizard, a la "V"?

Or is he just another Neville Chaimberlain?

It doesn't really matter why, only what is.

So, whatever his actual inner thoughts and motivations, which we cannot know, Obama is the de facto and most excellent cleanup hitter for the Bush Agenda.

Conflating Soc. Sec. with the General Fund will purposefully set a precedent and finally break down any illusion that SocSec money belongs to anyone other than our American Nobility. If anyone is still dumb enough to believe the last shreds of bullshit window-dressing still hanging like crepe over the corpse of the Old American Republic.

Which of course there are. Hundreds of millions of them.

It's a joke, a very bad (or very good, depending on how one looks at it) joke.

[Creative]

58. Can we say "Fair Tax?"

[One_Life_To_Give]

59. Didn't Regan say/do the same?

Don't remember the year. But I know I have heard the same rhetoric before. Tax simplification that more than doubled the pages in the tax code with loopholes for special interests IIRC.

[bullwinkle428]

69. 1986! With the exact same "sales pitch" - "lower the rates, and

close the loopholes"!

It worked out VERY WELL for the very well off!

[Le Taz Hot]

60. Translation:

Eliminate home mortgage deduction. Watch and see if most of this "reform" doesn't fall on us.

[sendero]

61. Gee Obama..

... if you current legislative "accomplishments" are any guide, I'd prefer you just leave it alone. It sucks, but I have no doubt whatsoever that you could make it even worse.

[No Elephants]

66. Oooh, no, Mr. Bill!

[eringer]

68. Yeah, Right. Was this your idea or Biden's?

Per the NY Times article, "Mr. Obama signaled his inclination in off-the-cuff remarks on Wednesday as he was defending the tax cuts deal negotiated with Congressional Republicans this week. “We’ve got to have tax reform,” he said."
WHAT KIND OF CRAP TALK IS THAT?
What is wrong with the progressive tax system we have in place? The only thing wrong that I can tell (from a GOPea POV) is that it taxes the rich (in dollars not percent of income) more than the poor. Hey Prez, how about a flat tax? Yeah, that would be just great, even very great. Everyone can pay their fair share if we had a flat tax. Too bad I am not on the higher end of the tax brackets right now. I would be salivating at this point. As I am not, Obama needs to come home to his party or spend that rest of his tenure playing golf with Rush in Hawaii. The Democratic Party can run a nice presidential primary around him.

O'Malley 2012

[bonnieS]

70. sounds like he

is trying to implement everything by himself that was turned down from the Catfood Commission--like the attack on Social Security contained in the tax cut agreement and now this. Possibly the estate tax tho I am not sure that was in there.

[bullwinkle428]

72. Exactly. He will push everything that came out of that Catfood Commission

as his own brand new shiny idea, thinking that the moderate voters are just going to go into an apeshit frenzy of support, and he'll get re-elected in a landslide!

[bullwinkle428]

71. I wouldn't be shocked if he ran Neil Boortz's "Fair Tax" horseshit

up the flagpole to see how many would salute that!

[ladjf]

73. The tax code needs to be overhauled , but not by the Republicans

and their confederates. nt

[Doctor_J]

75. "Lower rates and increase revenues"

Hoo boy. The idiots fell for it when Reagan did it. Will it work again?

[TomCADem]

76. I Know Folks Are Going To Be Cynical, But This Should Be A Priority

[coti]

77. Goodbye mortgage interest and health insurance premium deductions! nt

[davidthegnome]

79. With all due respect

(which is none - for it must be earned) Mr. President, go do the anatomically impossible with yourself.

[myrna minx]

80. Uff da - I'm growing frightened of his 'reforms'.