Obama Raises Taxes On Poor People To Pay For Tax Cuts For Wealthy People And Hedge Fund Managers

Seriously - that's what he is doing:

The deal to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for two years includes a bevy of additional credits and deductions that will reduce the burden on nearly all households.

But the tax benefits will flow most heavily to the highest earners, just as the original cuts did when they were passed in 2001 and 2003. At least a quarter of the tax savings will go to the wealthiest 1 percent of the population.

The tentative deal includes a two-year patch for the alternative minimum tax, a reduction in the payroll tax and a plan to reinstate the estate tax with lower rates and higher exemptions than in 2009 — all of which will offer far more savings for high earners than those in the low- or middle-income bracket.

The wealthiest Americans will also reap tax savings from the proposal’s plan to keep the cap on dividend and capital gains taxes at 15 percent, well below the highest rates on ordinary income.

And negotiators have agreed that the estimated $900 billion cost of the cuts will simply be added to the deficit — not covered by reductions in spending or increases in other taxes. That is good news for hedge fund managers and private equity investors, who appear to have withstood an effort to get them to pay more by eliminating a quirk in the tax code that allows most of their income to be taxed at just 15 percent.

In fact, the only groups likely to face a tax increase are those near the bottom of the income scale — individuals who make less than $20,000 and families with earnings below $40,000.

“It’s going to look like the rich are getting richer again,” said Anne Mathias, an analyst for MF Global Inc.

Completely outrageous.

Raising taxes on individuals making less than $20,000 and families making less than $40,000 in order to extend the Bush tax cuts to wealthy people and keep hedge fund managers from paying their fair share.

How's that for change we can believe in?

Obama has been pulling this neo-liberal sell-out garbage since he got elected, but this one takes the prize for WORST SELL-OUT EVER.

I thought Obama's insistence that food stamps be cut so that his Race to the Top program could withstand any spending cuts was the worst sell-out ever, but this tax deal is worse than even that one.

You know what to do...

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