|
Redstate…
Obama’s
Fuzzy Stimulus Math
Obama proposes 36% cut to Social
Security revenue
Posted by Daniel Horowitz
Thursday,
September 8th
Let’s
forget the fact that Obama’s
entire Stimulus 10.0 is a counterintuitive proposal that doubles down
on the
very failures that precipitated this speech.
Let’s also disregard the fact that enshrining
unemployment insurance as
a permanent handout will perpetuate unemployment.
And more union-induced, short-term money
drops on infrastructure will do nothing but stimulate traffic jams. Let’s focus purely on the
very numbers that
the administration has offered –numbers that would undoubtedly be
revised
upward, if the plan is passed.
Total
package – $447 billion
-
50% payroll tax cut for every employee,
dropping the rate from 6.2% to 3.1%= $175 billion
-Obama
also proposed cutting the
employer payroll tax in half on the first $5 million of a firm’s
payroll in
2012. About 98% of firms have payrolls of $5 million or less.= $70
billion
-National
infrastructure bank = $10
billion
-
Pork project handouts to unions for
roads, rails and bridges= $50 billion
-An
unprecedented extension of
unemployment insurance benefits to be extended for another year, beyond
the 99
weeks= $62 billion.
-Handouts
to public school teacher
unions, even though we already spend more per capita on education than
any
other country=$35 billion
-Refurbishing
schools, a
responsibility of local government=$25 billion
-Handouts
to community colleges=$5
billion
-Rehabilitate
vacant property=$15
billion
Despite
the steep cost, Obama claims
that it will all be paid for. How
will
he pay for it?
While
he has failed to account for the
source of revenue, he hinted to tax increases on rich people and
closing oil
company tax loopholes. But
here is the
kicker. As we’ve
pointed out previously,
the revenue from removing those oil company tax deductions would be a
paltry $2
billion. The
revenue from eliminating
the so-called corporate tax deduction would be a miniscule $300 million!
To
put this mathematical farce in
another perspective; the entire revenue from corporate taxes in 2011 is
estimated to be $192 billion. Yet,
Obama
plans to offset $447 billion worth of stimulus!
He would need to drastically raise personal
income rates to a crippling
level, in order to accomplish that.
Or,
more likely, he will just increase the deficit.
Here’s
another point: We
all love tax cuts, but the payroll taxes
are different because they are needed to pay for Social Security. Yet, Obama plans to cut
revenues by $245
billion, or 36%, of the entire annual revenue (projected at $687
billion) of
the so-called trust fund. Being
that he
will ostensibly slash half of payroll taxes, that number is surely too
low (as
is the estimate for unemployment benefits).
So, Mr. President, if Social Security is
really a pay-as-you-go system,
how can you blithely raid the trust fund?
Answer: #PonziScheme. Look who wants to get
rid of Social Security now.
Meanwhile,
Obama has blown through the
entire $400 billion increase in the debt ceiling – in just one month. The debt now stands at
$14.7 trillion. The
Senate voted down a resolution of
disapproval tonight, paving the road for another $500 debt increase. Hey, what’s another $447
billion among fellow
socialists?
Read
it at Redstate
|
