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Posted on 10/05/2011 1:18:26 PM PDT by tcrlaf
WASHINGTON—Senate Democrats proposed a 5% surtax on people earning more than $1 million a year to pay for the $447 billion cost of President Barack Obama's job-creation bill, in a move designed to shore up their party's support for the measure.
The proposal would replace the range of tax deductions for wealthy people, oil companies and other businesses that the president had proposed to end to offset the cost of the job-creation initiatives in his plan.
WSJ Deputy Managing Editor Alan Murray and Evan Newmark discuss the politics of the proposed 5% surtax on millionaires put forth by Senate democrats. Photo of Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin: AP/J. Scott Applewhite
Democratic leaders said they hoped to bring the revised plan to the Senate floor next week for debate. But assuming they keep all of their votes, they would need at least seven Republicans to vote in favor of any effort just to start debate on the legislation.
It's also not clear that the changes would win over all the Democrats who have been opposed to the package. Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.V.) has voiced objections to the spending portion of the bill, so changing how it is paid for would be unlikely to sway him. Sen. Ben Nelson (D., Neb.) has repeatedly said he would oppose any tax increases given the current economic malaise.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
First sentence of the article (in part): "Senate Democrats proposed a 5% surtax on people earning more than $1 million a year..."
Is the new definition of "millionaire" a person who earns more than a million dollars a year? It used to be a person with a net worth of a million dollars. That doesn't qualify as rich anymore, I suppose.
Idle semantics, I suppose -- the surtax is wrongheaded and counterproductive, no matter how one defines "millionaire," but it's pretty sloppy writing.
Arghhh - of course you’re right - I read your first sentence and hit the keyboard. My apologies.
(Of course it doesn’t hurt to repeat a point as important as the one you made . . . the sincerest form of flattery and all that . . .)
Why not go one more step and make it a VOLUNTARY contribution to the Treasury for millionaires only as a check-off box on their Tax Returns?
It would work like the “contribution for the Presidential Election Fund” we have to check or not check on our 1040s. Only millionaires would be authorized to do it, though. It could be targeted at debt reduction, or bridges needing repair, job creation, etc... all the stuff Obummer wants to do.
After figuring their taxes, they could cut a check for 5% of the Gross income and send it in... SIMPLE!!
I think this would make all those millionaires who what to be taxed more, quite happy (Buffet, Hollywood Democrats, etc) and give them a little control over where their money goes. I don’t think the Republicans or Democrats would complain...
I wonder why this hasn’t been done??...
In ten years we may have another 4 or 5 jobs bills.
Who will pay for those.
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