Comments on "Obama’s perilous assault on the rich"

Comment on: Obama’s perilous assault on the rich By Clive Crook

Published: May 1 2011 19:14 | Last updated: May 1 2011 19:14

Original article here.

The indisputable fact is that since the mid 1970's, the income distribution has shifted very dramatically to the top 1%, and that this coincides time-wise with the dramatic tax cuts first passed by the Reagan administration - the expected rise in tax revenue did not materialize and to avoid an even bigger budget deficit, Mr Greenspan made his brilliant suggestion to rob the Social Security Trust Fund. "Income redistribution", which the conservatives complain about as a sign of "class warfare" has actually been in favor of those on the top of the income distribution.

See my Blog for details.

Part of the solution is to make the wealthy, who benefited from the lower taxes and the raiding of the Social Security Trust Fund, pay for replenishing that Trust Fund by extending the payroll (SSA) taxes to the very high incomes and by reversing the tax cuts for the very wealthy. The effect on jobs of such "tax increases", as everyone knows, will be minimal to non-existent.