Obama's love for the middle class? Now, that's rich!

Cleveland Plain Dealer ^ | July 12, 2012 | Kevin O'Brien

View full sizeSusan Walsh, Associated PressOn Monday, President Barack Obama refined his class-warfare strategy a bit, separating the upper middle class from the middle class.
He announced that he would favor allowing the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts for the rich, whom he defines as individuals earning more than $200,000 a year and married couples earning more than $250,000 a year.

He would, however, favor retaining something he and other Democrats apparently just discovered: the Bush-era tax cuts for the middle class.


Who knew that such a thing existed? But yes, there they are, right there in that pile of stuff Congress passed while George W. Bush was in the White House. What a pleasant surprise after all these years of Democratic assurances that only the rich benefited.


It's important that voters understand that the health of the economy is not the driving factor behind the arbitrary presidential declaration of who is middle class and who isn't.
This is entirely about the health of Obama's re-election campaign.
In proposing that tax cuts be retained for anyone at all, Obama is violating a Democratic commandment: Thou shalt not admit the efficacy of lowering tax rates in promoting economic growth.
But if that's what it takes to put Republicans in a box by forcing them to explain why it makes sense not to raise taxes on "job creators" -- a phrase Obama utters with a smirk -- well, Paul Krugman will forgive him.
Republicans, meanwhile, should explain -- in detail. Unlike Obama, they'll be telling the truth and making excellent fiscal sense.
And speaking of details, let's look closely at a few of the other things President One-Note said during Monday's ramble.
"Many members of the other party believe that prosperity comes from the top down, so that if we spend trillions more on tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, then that will somehow unleash jobs and economic growth."
Many members of the other party believe that because it's true. "Trickle-down" isn't an economic theory; it's an inescapable economic fact. When the top of the economic heap experiences prosperity and growth, it doesn't hoard its capital. Everyone stands to benefit. Conversely, when the top of the economic heap experiences pain, as it has in Obama's economy and as it will to a greater extent in the higher-tax economy Obama proposes, everyone stands to suffer.
What was not true in Obama's statement was the reference to tax cuts as government spending. Tax cuts involve money that does not belong to the government. "We" don't "spend" anything when "we" grant a tax cut. "We" simply allow people to keep more of their own money and use it as they see fit in the private sector of the economy.
". . . We've got this huge deficit, and everybody agrees that we need to do something about these deficits and these debts. So the money we're spending on these tax cuts for the wealthy is a major driver of our deficit, a major contributor to our deficit, costing us a trillion dollars over the next decade."
The federal deficit is approaching $16 trillion. Obama's proposal, with its $250,000-a-year earnings cutoff, would raise $70 billion a year in revenue for the federal government. That's about half of what it will take to pay for the additional spending Obamacare will require, if it's allowed to stand. Anything Obama says about deficit reduction is a poorly delivered joke.
". . . Most people agree that we should not raise taxes on middle-class families or small businesses -- not when so many folks are just trying to get by. Not when so many folks are still digging themselves out of the hole that was created by this Great Recession that we had, and at a time when the recovery is still fragile."
What recovery?
And here's a news flash: A host of new and direct government-related costs, including but certainly not limited to Obamacare, are aimed straight at the middle class. They'll be followed by a slew of indirect costs, as businesses pass higher taxes, fees, etc., along to consumers.
Middle class, whoever you are, be warned: All Obama wants is the re-election that only you can give him.
He doesn't mind using you, but he's really not that into you. And if you give him what he wants, he's already planning to walk all over you.
Choose wisely.