Obama Wants to Tax the Wealthy with $3 Trillion Debt Reduction Plan

On Monday, President Obama outlined his $3 trillion debt reduction plan which includes $1.5 trillion in new revenue generated largely by a higher tax on the wealthiest Americans. The plan was criticized by some Republicans as class warfare against the rich.

“This is not class warfare,” President Obama said.  ”It’s math. If we are not willing to ask those who’ve done extraordinarily well to help America close the deficit … then the logic, the math says everybody else has to do a whole lot more.”

Obama said that spending cuts alone would not solve our fiscal problems and promised to veto any other debt reduction legislation that cuts benefits without including higher taxes on the wealthy. Speaker of the House John Boehner has said for a while now there will be no tax increases. Obama’s plan would allow some of the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy to expire, along with closing various tax loopholes.

Will President Obama raise your taxes? Check inside…

Posted by:

Justin Burkhardt

Al Sharpton and Buchanan Debate Debt Bill

Oh Boy!! Interesting how quickly the narrative changes. Who won this debate?

Posted by:

Biko Baker

School’s Out Until Memphis Pays Up

What would you do if your child’s school district went on strike? Well that’s exactly what the Memphis City School Board of Commissioners is doing. Apparently, the city owes the school board millions of dollars. According to CNN:

“The board says it is owed a total of $151 million, according to the Commercial Appeal newspaper of Memphis. That includes what the city still owes for the 2008-09 school year, shortfalls on two subsequent school years and $78 million for the upcoming year.”

School is supposed to start on August 8, but the board voted that it won’t happen until at least $55 million is placed in the school’s bank account. As a parent, this would worry the crap out of me, but I understand where they’re coming from. Children of all ages are out future and if you short-change them, what kind of future will we have?

Hit the jump to find out what will happen when August rolls around…

Posted by:

Ursula Brantley

Wealth Gap Between Whites and Minorities at Record High

A new Pew Research analysis using government data from 2009 shows that the wealth gap between whites, blacks and Hispanics has risen to a record level. The median wealth of white households is now 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households. Not only that, but about a third of black (35 percent) and Hispanic (31 percent) households were in debt, with zero net net worth in 2009, compared with only 15 percent of white households.

The study says that the decline in the housing market is the main cause and that the study seems to show that white people went into the recession stronger and were able to deal with the housing crisis better. Minorities also have the majority of their wealth tied up in housing, while white people are  more diversified and more likely to have their wealth spread out in different investments (housing, stocks, mutual funds, pensions).

… Continue Reading

Posted by:

Justin Burkhardt

Political Quick Hits: April 9th Edition

Here’s your weekly quick look at a few developing stories in the political arena for this week:

• Shutdown averted! Both parties reached an agreement to a funding extension averting a government shutdown around late Friday night, with only about an hour to spare until the government actually shut down. Speaker of the House, John Boehner, announced at a press conference late Friday night that there would be no shutdown.The new funding extension, which cuts spending by $38 billion, will last through the end of the fiscal year in September.  Both sides agreed on a framework for a bill which will have $38.5 bill in cuts over the next 6 months and includes no Planned Parenthood rider, which means Planned Parenthood (which was believed to be a sticking point in negotiations) will not be defunded for the timebeing, but is expected to be voted on separately as part of the deal, along with health care reform repeal.

… Continue Reading

Posted by:

Justin Burkhardt