NYC Letter: Mr. Obama's Awesome Jobs Plan -- Update: DOA

Day 965 of CHOPE

Mr. Obama's awesome jobs plan is short on awe and long on more of the same. Short on pay-fors and long on costs. Today Team Barry reveals the pay-fors. Surprise! The pay-fors are all taxes!

OBAMA PROPOSING TAX HIKES
TO PAY FOR JOBS BILL

WASHINGTON September 12, 2011 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is proposing a series of tax increases, mainly on the wealthy, to help cover the cost of a $447 billion economic stimulus proposal, budget chief Jack Lew said on Monday.

Lew said Obama's plan would raise $400 billion over 10 years by placing new limits on itemized deductions for individuals making more than $200,000 a year and families earning more than $250,000.

The rest of the $467 billion in savings would come from raising a smattering of other taxes, including those on corporate jet owners and the oil and gas industry.

Savings? Savings are the result of money not spent. That $467B isn't savings, it's taxes. Monies obtained by levy. Mr. Obama is funding his entire jobs plan with new taxes. What happened to that balanced approach from the jobs speech?

This approach is basically the one I’ve been advocating for months. In addition to the trillion dollars of spending cuts I’ve already signed into law, it’s a balanced plan that would reduce the deficit by making additional spending cuts, by making modest adjustments to health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid, and by reforming our tax code in a way that asks the wealthiest Americans and biggest corporations to pay their fair share. (Applause.)

It's obvious now why Mr. Obama didn't detail his pay-fors in the well of the House. [We consider the obvious.] They would almost certainly have been greeted with loud boos.

What is going on? [Pause.] Here is a theory. Mr. Obama knows his awesome jobs plan is junk with little chance of making a significant impact -- but he owns the junk. The fastest way to kill it is to fund it with new taxes. When the Republican House refuses to raise taxes, Mr. Obama can blame Republicans for high unemployment and his miserable economy. Going into 2012, Mr. Obama will seamlessly segue from the lousy inherited Bush economy into the lousy Republican House economy.

There will never be a lousy Obama economy. An Obama economy will only emerge if Mr. Obama has his way, down to the smallest tittle. When that proves lousy, well, there's always the "bad luck" fallback.

CHOPE.

DOA. Never really serious.

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ALMOST INSTANT UPDATE: Double surprise! Who could've seen this coming? Um, anyone marginally sentient.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS BLAST
OBAMA TAX INCREASE PLAN

WASHINGTON September 12, 2011 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's proposal to pay for his job-creation plan with tax increases on the wealthy is not in keeping with a bipartisan path he was seeking, a spokesman for Republican House Speaker John Boehner said on Monday.

"We remain eager to work together on ways to support job growth, but this proposal doesn't appear to have been offered in that bipartisan spirit," said Boehner spokesman Michael Steel. Boehner is the top Republican.