Oct 31 - Political Commentary - Lies?

Why is Obama telling lies about the economy? Is he deliberately trying to stir up class hatred?

The Lie

From Obama’s Weekly Saturday address – October 29^th, 2011
“This week, a new economic report confirmed what most Americans already believe to be true: over the past three decades, the middle class has lost ground while the wealthiest few have become even wealthier,” said Obama. (One place that has certainly got "wealthier" is the Federal government. It is spending nearly twice as much per capita, in inflation adjusted dollars, as it did 3 decades ago.)

The Truth

From the Congressional Budget Office report cited by Obama. “For the 60 percent of the population in the middle of the income scale (21st through 80th percentiles), the growth in average real after-tax household income was just under 40 percent.” That means that a family that would have been earning the equivalent of about $50,000 per year in constant dollars in 1997 would be making the equivalent of $70,000 in 2007.

More from the report, "For the 20 percent with the lowest income, average real after-tax household income was about 18 percent higher in 2007 than it had been in 1997.”

Another Lie? – Maybe not a lie but just a statement designed to inflame class hatred.

Again from his Saturday address.

“And this has happened during a period where the cost of everything from health care to college has skyrocketed,” Obama said.

The Truth

The increases in income that the CBO documented were in inflation-adjusted dollars—meaning that each type of household saw its income rise over and above the level of inflation between 1979 and 2007.

It is true that the wealthiest 1% saw larger gains in their income than the rest of us but so what? CNN recently reported that to be in the top 1% of American taxpayers you have to have a minimum adjusted gross income of  $343,927. They also reported that the 1.4 million households in this category earned nearly 17% of the nations income while paying 37% of its income tax.

I'd like to know why all of us should not have to pay equally for the services we receive from the Federal government? If, on a local level, we want to help others pay their Federal taxes that would be up to us.

Currently the Feds spend around $12,000 for every US citizen. It should cost a single person $12,000, a couple $24,000, etc; for their share of what we get from the Feds. (I don't know about you but I'm darn certain that I'm not getting my $12,000 worth.)

Actually, even though I don't think it is "fair", I support Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan, as an interim step to implementing a true "fair tax" plan. The 9% tax paid by business would, of course, be passed along to we end consumers in the form of higher retail prices, the same as what happens with today's taxes on business.  In addition, everybody would pay a 9% income tax and a 9% sales tax. The "rich" would, of course, pay far more because of their larger incomes and larger spending.