Biden goes after Capital Gains
During the 2008 DNC debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, there was a famous exchange between moderator Charlie Gibson and Obama over something quite basic to economist Arthur Laffer. Like most progressives, Obama didn't really understand economics.
GIBSON: All right. You have, however, said you would favor an increase in the capital gains tax . As a matter of fact, you said on CNBC, and I quote, “I certainly would not go above what existed under Bill Clinton,” which was 28 percent. It’s now 15 percent. That’s almost a doubling, if you went to 28 percent.
But actually, Bill Clinton, in 1997, signed legislation that dropped the capital gains tax to 20 percent.
OBAMA: Right.
GIBSON: And George Bush has taken it down to 15 percent.
OBAMA: Right.
GIBSON: And in each instance, when the 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.
Obama and Gibson Capital Gains Tax Exchange (taxfoundation.org)
It seems that Obama's protege (and the proxy for the radical left) is equally ignorant, because he wants to do it as well:
President Biden's latest proposal to hike the top capital gains tax rate to its highest level in more than a century is facing heavy criticism from experts who warn such an action could significantly harm the U.S. economy.
According to a report issued by the Treasury Department , led by Secretary Janet Yellen, the president's proposed fiscal year 2025 budget would increase the top marginal rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends to a staggering 44.6%. A capital gains tax hike of that magnitude would take the rate to its highest level since it was first introduced in the early 1920s.
"Investment is the real driver of economic growth," E.J. Antoni, an economist and research fellow at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital. "Investment is what gives you productivity gains. Investment is where you get factories and machines — it's where businesses are able to provide their workers with tools and equipment that allow them to increase their productivity, to increase wages, etc."
"If you're going to tax something, you get less of it," he continued. "And that's just as true for investment as it is for anything else. Taxing capital gains means less investment, it means less economic growth, and it means the rise in people's standards of living is going to slow dramatically."
Biden's capital gains tax proposal could crush the economy, experts say | Fox News
You see Joe Biden is planning on letting the Trump tax cut expire. The very tax cut that the leftwing media lied about, calling it a tax cut for the rich. The problem is that the American middle class will feel the effects of letting the tax cuts expire. Thus, Biden thinks he can tax the life out of investors. He doesn't understand that people won't take risks for less returns on investment.
In other news:
David " Pickle" Pecker takes the stand for the 4th day in the bogus Trump "Hush Money" trial. Thus far this case is collapsing under its own weight. Pecker said he was doing PR work for Trump and others for decades. We still have yet to hear what the crime was that Trump was supposedly trying to conceal.
The Supreme Court seem to be heading for a third option on the question of Presidential immunity. They could send it back to the District Court. Neither Court seems to feel the sense of urgency as the illegally chosen Jack Smith.
Pro-Israel protests have begun in US cities.
New York’s highest court overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 conviction for sex crimes. It said the judge had erred by allowing witnesses unrelated to the charges.
About 20 percent of milk sampled nationwide showed genetic traces of bird flu according to the FDA. There was no sign the milk was unsafe to drink, but it suggests the outbreak is widespread in cows.
Good morning.
Does anyone notice a contrast between the two groups:
Is it just me, or does one group seem clean cut and non-violent and the other group hate-filled & violent?
BTW the media hasn't really covered the former.
I just spilled my coffee:
"Every time a police officer puts on that shield every morning, their husband or wife…worries about will they get that phone call. I got one of those phone calls."
Biden hopes to meet with families of slain officers following backlash to Syracuse visit (msn.com)
Biden Brings up Death of His Son While Speaking About Fallen Police Officers – IJR
Crushing peoples' 401k(s) will do wonders for the economy.
Michael Dreeben, speaking for the government told the SCOTUS this JOKE yesterday:
“ Prosecutors have no incentive to bring a case to a grand jury and secure an indictment when they don’t have evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt."
CNN.com - Transcripts
I think that is when Justice Alito spilled his coffee!
JUDGE MERCHAN SCHEDULED A SURPRISE HEARING FOR NEXT WEDNESDAY — THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE THAT DAY OFF SO TRUMP SCHEDULED RALLIES IN WISCONSIN AND MICHIGAN!
This is about preventing Trump from campaigning as much as anything else.
I would say that Democrats/leftists have sunk to a new low; but they always prove me wrong by sinking to lower depths.
They are always obvious if nothing else.
There is definitely something going on with The Federalist.
They are editing titles, and they are doing it long after the piece is published.
T he White House Thursday deflected House Speaker Mike Johnson 's (R-LA) request to send National Guard assets to police pro-Gaza protests at Columbia University, saying it's New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's (D-NY) call.
Johnson visited Columbia on Wednesday, where he called on university President Minouche Shafik to resign and added that he planned on calling President Joe Biden personally to request he send in the National Guard.
"I’m here to proclaim to all those who gnash their teeth and demand to wipe the State of Israel off the map and attack our innocent Jewish students this simple truth: Neither Israel, nor these Jewish students on this campus, will ever stand alone," he declared.
Asked about Johnson's comments on Thursday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters they had not received a call from the speaker's office.
White House ignores Johnson’s call to send in National Guard to Columbia University (msn.com)
Does that mean that Biden won't consider sending in the Guard unless Johnson asks him directly?
“We’ll certainly never forget the dark days of June 6, January 6th, excuse me,” the commander-in-chief said, according to a White House pool report.
Biden forgets date of January 6 Capitol riots at glitzy fundraiser hosted by Michael Douglas (nypost.com)
Between Biden's statements that he wants to raise the capital gains tax and wants to increase income taxes overall and the simple little problem that inflation is still creeping up, I don't understand how people can still support the man. With an estimated 78% of Americans living paycheck to paycheck, how will this impact their lives? And yes, I understand that some of the people living paycheck to paycheck do so because of their own choices and failure to plan, but there is still a large contingent of the population who just cannot afford to lose more money.
If inflation continues to grow over the year, I suspect this will become a big impact on Biden for November.
Buying a stock that has been circulating on the market for 50 years is NOT an investment that grows the country. The only thing that does is to provide skim for middlemen. Only an IPO infuses new investment cash into the economy. And investment banks won't allow IPOs without getting a pound of flesh.
Raising short-term capital gains taxes may be beneficial to some extent. That could tamp down market volatility. But increasing taxes on long-term gains would, indeed, be devastating. Just keep in mind that Biden's underlying purpose for increasing taxes on gains would provide more money to be skimmed by middlemen using transaction fees. Biden's proposal is really about increasing political donations by financial middlemen who are parasites on the working economy.
Stock brokers and politicians have the same impact on the productive economy.