It was 150 years ago today that President Abraham Lincoln imposed the first federal income tax. During the Civil War, Congress approved the Revenue Act of 1861 which included a tax on personal incomes to help pay war expenses. While the decision by Lincoln to raise taxes in a time of war may not seem like a monumental one, it certainly has relevance today. During the debt ceiling negotiations, Republican members of Congress stated there would be no tax increases as part of a deal to raise the debt ceiling. President Obama supported an increase in taxes (along with spending cuts) so that we could pay off the debt that we already owe. Part of that debt can be attributed to two wars that were not paid for. I wonder if Republicans today would be critical of one of their party's greatest (and one of America's greatest) presidents for raising taxes? They certainly have no problem criticizing our current president for wanting to do the same thing. President Lincoln was an intelligent person. He understood that if you didn't have the money to conduct a war, you raised the required revenue to do so. Despite what some may think, President Obama is an intelligent individual as well. I don't dispute the fact that he has spent too much of the nation's money, but in order to be fair to the president, much of that spending was aimed at trying to pull us out of the worst recession since the 1930's. Given the current economic crisis that we are in, the President understands that spending cuts alone will not solve the problems we are facing. The President has the foresight to see that we need additional revenue to avoid an economic calamity. The same foresight that Lincoln used to avoid an economic collapse during the Civil War. Given the current Republican position on taxes, I am left to wonder if Abraham Lincoln would be an outcast in today's Republican Party?
I wonder when debt went from being a temporary necessity to a permanent condition.
ReplyDeleteThink of it like this: I have a plan to raise government revenue by $164 billion without raising taxes on anyone in any way. Would you vote for me?
If the US government were to pay off its debt tomorrow it would have more than $164 billion that it spends on interest to spend however it wanted.
First, I agree- Tax Increases are necessary and I think should have been a part of the recent deal. I am almost certain we will see tax increases from the "SuperCongress" anyway. The problem with Obama is there is no real plan other than to keep spending money even though we know that did not work. Kind of like just about all he knew how to do in his few months in Congress was vote "present". The reason a deal could not be reached (other than the tax issue) was that Obama did not want to outline "Real" substantial cuts. He just had a bunch of "talk" about future discussions on cuts. We all know how that goes. Once the legislation is passed, the cuts just kind of go up in smoke. Kudos for the Repubs for holding out for REAL cuts but they need to realize that some tax increases will be necessary. I guess the 50% paying taxes (including me) will have to kick out a litte more.
ReplyDeleteObama often says that everyone needs to pay their "fair share" and everyone needs to have "Shared Sacrifice". I often wonder what the "fair share" is of the 50% that are either paying $0 in taxes or receiveing a EIC credit that exceeds what they paid in? What if they paid even $10 a month? What if we stopped cash payouts in the form of EIC credits?
Sorry, don't know about Lincoln because politics are too different these days to really compare but I often wonder if even JFK would still be considered a main line Democrat. Seems both sides have tucked in to the left and right respectively.