Last weekend I heard that President Obama would call for tax increases on wealthy Americans during his State of the Union speech.
Since his speech was last night, I won't get a chance to comment on what he actually proposed until next week, so for now you will have to bear with me as I comment (some might say gripe) about what I heard that he might say.
It doesn't surprise me at all that he will propose a tax increase on high earners. I would be surprised only if I had heard that he wouldn't want to raise taxes on the rich.
During his entire political career he has stirred the pot and created class envy by dividing Americans into "haves and have-nots' or by "makers and takers." In other words, if you have it -- he wants to take some of it from you through taxation, because in his image of America, those who are well off have achieved their station in life at the expense of those who are not achievers.
We all know that life is not fair, and he knows it too, but he sees himself as the grand arbiter and in that capacity it's up to him to make sure that the pie is more evenly divided.
As the great decider concerning what is fair, his vision is that the rich guys have never paid their fair share and those who are his loyal followers never have received their fair share; so he's there to bring his version of fairness to the equation. He's not at all interested in increasing the size of the pie. His only interest is in divvying it up in a manner that he deems to be fair.
If he was interested in increasing the size of the economic pie for the vast middle class, he would have approved the Keystone XL pipeline long ago. Approving Keystone would increase the size of the labor and manufacturing pie exponentially. Keystone would create thousands of construction jobs as the pipeline is being built, and would do much the same for the manufacturing industry, i.e. those who make the pipe for the pipeline; and when it's completed the oil and gas industry will have many more jobs too.
If he was at all concerned about the size of the pie shared by labor, he would never have issued the executive order immediately after the election that granted amnesty to 4 or 5 million illegals. By less than brilliant executive action the whole pie that labor shares remained the same size, but more people had to share each piece. His action did nothing to increase the size of the pie; it only increased the number of those wanting to eat it.
One more thing about Obama's view of the economy. The president said in his weekend address: "America's resurgence is real"... and it's "his job to make every American feel they are part of our country's comeback." His remarks about resurgence are diametrically opposed to a report of the Nielsen Newswire of Jan. 15, Nielsen states that "more than half of American consumers say they believe we are still in recession." Who to believe?
More free stuff
Last week the president said he wanted Congress to pass a bill giving two year's free tuition to all students who wanted to attend community college. When his party controlled both the houses of Congress he never considered asking the Democrats to approve such a scheme. He has proposed it now so he can show how selfish the Republicans are. His proposal is so flawed it's hardly worth the time it takes to laugh it off. This ridiculous idea is debunked in a recent report titled "Remediation, Higher Education's Bridge to Nowhere" which points out that nearly 50 percent of students entering community colleges are placed in remedial classes, and 4 in 10 don't complete them. Fewer than one in 10 who take remedial courses graduate from community colleges within three years. Another great plan Mr. President. I opine, you decide.
-- Willie Williams is a Siloam Springs resident. He can be reached at [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 01/21/2015