Republicans Accuse Obama of Waging 'Class Warfare' With Millionaire Tax Plan

[TomCADem]

Source: Fox News

A top House Republican accused President Obama of appealing to Americans' "fear, envy and anxiety" by pushing a new tax rate on people making more than $1 million annually, saying the "class warfare path" will only hurt the economy.

"Class warfare ... may make for really good politics, but it makes for rotten economics," Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Budget Committee, told "Fox News Sunday."

The president is planning on proposing the new and higher rate as part of a broader long-term deficit-reduction plan he's unveiling Monday. It will likely include a mix of entitlement reform and new revenue, and will be aimed at the bipartisan "super committee" trying to find about $1.5 trillion in deficit reduction over the next decade.

But Ryan said the millionaire tax provision will undermine economic growth.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/09/18/rep-ryan-accuses-obama-waging-class-warfare-with-millionaire-tax-plan/

---

This is a Fox News story collecting the most recent Republican responses to the President's economic proposals, but I think it is instructive. Defending the rich is somehow a winning strategy for Republicans. For whatever reasons, Fox News viewers have bought into the idea that what is good for the rich is good for America, thus they probably are reacting in outrage at President Obama's proposals to start moving tax rates for the rich back to Clinton era rates.

Durng the economic recession, the rich have done very well and corporations have made record profits, yet Republicans can still make the comments in this Fox News article with impunity. It is amazing.

[liberal N proud]

1. But when the GOP expects to reduce the deficit on the backs of the middle class

All you hear is crickets.

:nuke:

These fuckers have shown who they are really working for time and time again, still voters don't see through this shit.

:nuke:

[TomCADem]

3. This Fox News Headline Shows The Fruit of Corporate/GOP Psy-Ops

Fox can now run a story that blatantly defends the rich, who are doing just fine, and it actually gets people incensed at the Democrats. How dare the Democrats propose taxing the rich?

The narrative runs to the mainstream media with several interviewers questioning former President Clinton today about whether taxing the rich amounts to class warfare. He responded by saying that tax rates would merely return to the level prevaling under his administration, and the economy was pretty good.

[pepito]

15. you got it

so let me get this straight....Paul(i love 350$wine)Ryan,a congressional millionaire is crying about the average American being mean to him,and wanting him to pay his due...sorry Paul less expensive wine from now on
:rofl:

[givemebackmycountry]

37. Pepito - welcome to DU!

In case no one else said that to you!

:toast: :hi:

[high density]

2. Republicans like class warfare as long as the upper class are the winners.

The fact remains that companies are sitting on $2 trillion and still refuse to generate jobs. The hoarders at the top of our economic food chain do not each buy thousands of copies of products to make up for the sagging consumption of the middle and lower classes.

I just hope the WH is tough enough to not back down from it or once again accept a debate on the terms and talking points of the GOP.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

45. Oh no, the corporate masters will have to sell their yachts

[begin_within]

4. All the GOP ever does is class warfare for them, but if anyone else tries it, they denounce it.

[newspeak]

5. class war fare on the poor rich?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: and war is peace, love is hate, and rich is poor.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[awoke_in_2003]

7. Class warfare has been going on...

for 30 years- AND WE ARE LOSING

[FarLeftFist]

8. LOL. Hey Ryan, who gives a shit about a tax increase on people making over 1MILLION a year.

Good luck getting sympathy for that.

[SoapBox]

20. AND...everyone needs to be clear...taxes are on the BOTTOM line!

Anyone and everyone is taxed on the net or bottom line!

The GOPBaggers blur that line...I have NO problem with those that make a MILLION dollars, NET, with paying some more.

How many million and/or billions does one need to live on??????

[GoCubsGo]

9. There they go, projecting again.

Same shit, different day.

[stubtoe]

10. A top House Republican accused President Obama of appealing to Americans' "fear, envy and anxiety"

PROJECTION!

[Overseas]

11. Warren Buffet agrees that there is class warfare, but said it is his class that has been waging it.

Mr. Buffett compiled a data sheet of the men and women who work in his office. He had each of them make a fraction; the numerator was how much they paid in federal income tax and in payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare, and the denominator was their taxable income. The people in his office were mostly secretaries and clerks, though not all.

It turned out that Mr. Buffett, with immense income from dividends and capital gains, paid far, far less as a fraction of his income than the secretaries or the clerks or anyone else in his office. Further, in conversation it came up that Mr. Buffett doesn’t use any tax planning at all. He just pays as the Internal Revenue Code requires. “How can this be fair?” he asked of how little he pays relative to his employees. “How can this be right?”

Even though I agreed with him, I warned that whenever someone tried to raise the issue, he or she was accused of fomenting class warfare.

“There’s class warfare, all right,” Mr. Buffett said, “but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26every.html

[sarcasmo]

51. When my father raves about Buffet I always bring up that quote.

[n2doc]

12. I wish for ONCE the dems would call them on this

Say- You all are a bunch of LIARS. Show the American People evidence, ANY evidence, that tax increases reduce job growth. Because We are saying, to your face, that you are LYING.

[TomCADem]

19. Wish Easily Granted - Obama On September 9, 2011 - Just Because Corporate Media Ignores It

...and does not post an article blaring it like Fox News does not mean President Obama and other Democrats are not calling Republicans on their B.S.

http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0911/obama_in_richmond_on_sept_9_2011_d2a3d799-4607-462f-8448-66fc842b6174.html

Should we keep tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires?" he asks. No, the audience says. "We’ve got to make real choices about the kind of country we want to be. That’s not class warfare. I’m not attacking anybody. That’s just simple math." (11:55 a.m.)

But back to the meat of the jobs bill: Both parties "should be supporting" the ideas now, Obama says. "That will only happen, though, if they set politics aside for a moment to deal with America's problems," he says.

Obama asks the people -- "anybody watching, listening, following online" -- to call, email, "Tweet" (cheers), fax, "Facebook," "send a carrier pigeon" -- "I want you to tell your congressperson the time for gridlock and games is over."

"Pass this bill -- if you want construction workers on the work site, pass this bill," he says. He repeats "pass this bill" a half-dozen times, getting louder and louder. "If you want a tax break, pass this bill," he says.

[tularetom]

13. I wish this was true

Nothing would be better for the country than a little class warfare.

Unfortunately, what we have now is a one sided battle with the government squarely on the side of the "haves".

[bluestateguy]

14. If that's class warfare then I say "man your battle stations"!

They have been waging class warfare for 30 years and few have been fighting back.

[alfredo]

16. It's only class warfare when we fight back.

[truthisfreedom]

28. Exactly.

[alfredo]

29. It's time we sign the declaration.

[the_chinuk]

17. Class warfare? Damn skippy. We're comin' after yas. n/t k/r

[reformist2]

18. "Don't hate us because we're rich! Besides, we're the job creators!" LOL

[bemildred]

21. There is nothing more pathetic than a wealthy person whining about unfairness. nt

[pansypoo53219]

22. the publikkklans INSIST on partsa sacrifice.

NEVERMIND THE CLASS WARFARE ON THE NON RICH SINCE 1981.

[Blacksheep214]

23. "... saying the "class warfare path" will only hurt the economy. :

Is Ryan saying the economy is doing well? How can they call this economic mess they created anything except a disaster.

Tax breaks and the like for the rich do not work. They are not job creators but thieves!

Be glad this is only 'class' warfare asshole. At this rate that could change.

[bemildred]

24. I like the inadvertent admission that they think of themselves as a separate class.

This nation once prided itself on being a classless society. These reactionarry weasels want to turn back the clock.

[mcgarry50]

25. surprised

what did you expect. the republicons have been waging class warfare since reagan. fuck em.

[Melinda]

26. Yet this same piece of shit thinks it ok to force the unemployed to work for free...

That's right, those collecting unemployment checks should be made to work for their former employers in order to receive the same unemployment check... it's the one piece of Obama's proposed legislation Ryan supports.

And yeah, I said Obama's proposed legislation.

Obama Plan To Let Jobless Work For Free Gets Key Backing From Paul Ryan

While major parts of President Barack Obama's jobs plan are being met with hostility on Capitol Hill, at least one element was welcomed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), chairman of the House Budget Committee, on Sunday. That's the president's plan to allow businesses to hire the long-term unemployed for a limited period of time for free.

Appearing on "Fox News Sunday," Ryan raised the plan, modeled after a state program called Georgia Works, in response to a question about aid to states to prevent layoffs of first responders, teachers and other public employees. "We just don't think we should be bailing out state governments," he said. "That's the constitutional responsibility of state governments, not federal governments."

But, he added, he may end up supporting Obama's proposal to expand Georgia Works.

"The Georgia plan sounds pretty interesting, and that's unemployment reform," said Ryan. Much like welfare reform required recipients to show up at job centers or perform other tasks in exchange for aid, "unemployment reform" would require labor for aid.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/18/georgia-works-obama-plan-jobs-paul-ryan_n_968439.html

------------

:eyes:

[DreamSmoker]

27. The Rich and their Profits don't create Jobs

Just listen to this Dickhead talk the talk...
The Rich and their profits does not create Jobs at all...
Notice this Bozo does not separate Job creation at all from his bullshit claim that taxing the Rich fairly will impede this process..
So what he is saying is as long as the Richest in America keep their tax breaks.. This Economy will reverse and all will be well for All Americans..

What Ignorantly Righteous Asses Paul and his cronies are..
Fuck us all to keep theirs.... No matter how they screw this Country up.....

In my book.. These Folks are traders to America and its people..
They have sold us out for the Dollar and Profits...

[moondust]

30. Please don't squeal in public, Paul.

:nopity:

[Deep13]

31. Lying comes so easily to them. nt

[JDPriestly]

32. I spent a week in the Midwest.

The rich have waged class warfare against us by buying votes in Congress for tax cuts that favored them. The Bush administration waged class warfare on the poor with its exaggerated tax cuts for the wealthy.

And Bill Clinton's administration, let's face it, did away with welfare. That was back in the day when Greenspan convinced the power elite that prosperity was a one-way street into a glorious future. Not so.

But now, the jobless and homeless are just out there with no support from the over-dressed, over-housed rich. Having worked in a homeless project for years, I can assure you that relying on the largesse of the rich to take care of the poorest of us, is a loser.

Interestingly, wealthy people invariably claim to be devout Christians. I was raised on the Good Book and do not recall that Jesus admonished the poor to give to the rich. In fact, the story of the widow's mite is instructive here. The sacrifices of the poor, however small in value, are worth as much as the pompous donations of the rich. It was not a poor man, but rather a very rich man who was advised by Jesus to give away all his money if he wanted to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

Republicans like Ryan have to decide: Are they Christians or not? Because their attitudes toward hoarding their wealth rather than giving it away are not only unAmerican, but very unChristian.

My hats off to the Democrats in the Midwest who walk precincts and inform the public and get Democrats out to vote in spite of the hate and vitriol spewed by the Republican mouthpieces. You are doing God's work, I assure you. Wish I could be there to help.

[lsewpershad]

33. These creeps are

the ones pushing class warfare.... the rich against the middle and working class. We should starve them of our labor for a week or two and see what happens to them. Just imagine them cooking their own meals. washing their own dishes, making their beds and cleaning their rooms. Ha ha hilarious

[RBInMaine]

34. "Don't tax the job creators!" "Don't tax the job creators!" IOW "I'm full of shit !"

[madrchsod]

35. fox news viewers...what more needs to be said?

[perdita9]

36. They only call it Class Warfare when we fight back

[savannah43]

39. Exactly!

[farmbo]

40. Beat my comment by 3 minutes...

Great minds think alike.

[farmbo]

38. They only call it class warfare when we fight back.

And we've started fighting back.

Shared sacrifice and reasonable taxation of the rich and corporations will be the principle issue in the 2012 race.

[nolabear]

41. Then it is our job to loudly, LOUDLY support President Obama.

The GOP meme cannot be the one that carries the day. If we don't support him, then we deserve them.

[dimbear]

42. Many poor, few rich, you'd think we'd win. But the rich keep hiring

those mercenaries, just like that crazed colonel in Libya did.

Probably work out similarly too.

[ErikJ]

43. poorest 20 percent of Texans can expect to face a tax rate four times as high as top 1%

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/09/16/320975/perry-texas-regressive-taxes/

[wordpix]

44. "Ryan said the millionaire tax provision will undermine economic growth. "

It's already been proven the millionaires/billionaires aren't creating jobs in big numbers. But keep spouting those lies, repugs, the idiots will believe.

[No Elephants]

46. If anyone literally dies in this class "war," it won't be the rich.

People talking about cutting fuel subsidies and Medicare and fiddling with the OASDI cost of living adjustment. That is real war, likely to end in real casualties.

Taxing the rich more won't even begin to make them pay their fair share.

Example: Boston had a nice, small waterfront park. Parks in urban areas are precious. The city spent something like 3 million to "improve" the park. I was surprised because it did not seem to need improvement.

The park was dug up for a long time. When the "improvements" were finally over, I rode past the park with some friends.

I said "What did they do? It looks exactly the same."

A friend replied, "They made it smaller, so more boats could dock there."

Property taxes were used to make a small urban park SMALLER so more pleasure boats could dock there? Seriously?

Of course, the park is right next door to a ten room inn that rents outs it rooms to the yachting crowd for a small fortune per night. So, I guess the homeowners of Boston built that innkeeper the equivalent of a parking lot for only $3.2 million in property taxes and permanent loss of precious park area.

The poor aren't flying private planes, either. Oe putting tons (literally) of wear and tear on our roads and bridges every dsy shippig their goods.

But, if anyone literal dies in a class war, it won't be that innkeeper or the yachting crowd.



Let them start paying their fair share of what they cost us.

[saras]

47. What's wrong with "Class war? Yes. What of it?"

I expect class war constantly, 24-7, 365 days a year, from every progressive, until such time as there is no longer a class system.

I'll fight sexual oppression until there is no more, either, or until I die, which is much more likely to happen first.

But OF COURSE we're going to fight oppression.

[Hoosier Daddy]

48. Barf

To the GOP, anything not involving the eating of our children by the rich is "class warfare."

[harun]

49. He's talking about class warfare like it's a bad thing.

[SomeGuyInEagan]

50. It has ALWAYS BEEN CLASS WARFARE ...

Everything else is a distraction.

At their core, they will always put money before anything else ... their country, their religion, their family. There are some variations within ghe Republican party, but all will put everything else aside for profit. Wasn't always that way, but that defines the Republicans since Reagan.

[marasinghe]

52. good, you repuke m*f*ers; keep paying attention.

read the frikkin' writing on the wall -
before it's your names getting written up there.