Posted by
The CL Project on Thursday, February 26, 2009 2:53:07 PM
Welcome to the "Eat the Rich" Cafe where 
President Obama's menu is the most ambitious and expensive domestic agenda since LBJ. All that's left to do is figure out how to pay the tab. On Tuesday, he left the impression that we need merely end "tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% of Americans," and he promised that households earning less than $250,000 won't see their taxes increased by "one single dime."
Here's some news... Even if Obama took ALL of the income of the top wealthiest 2% of Americans it still wouldn't be enough to pay for his irresponsible agenda.
Today's Wall Street Journal discusses the "2% illusion."
Bottom line: Obama is selling the country on an illusion. Unwinding the U.S. commitment in Iraq and allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire cannot pay for his agenda. Taxes on the not-so-rich will need to rise as well. President Obama is very good at portraying his agenda as nothing more than center-left pragmatism. But pragmatists don't ignore the data. And the reality is that the only way to pay for Mr. Obama's ambitions is to reach ever deeper into the pockets of the American middle class.
And before the chant "PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE" arises from the peanut gallery let's recall one factoid: The wealthiest 2% earn just 22% of all income, but pay 40+ percent of all taxes. Hmmm, isn't that double their "fair share"? Especially considering that something like 40% of Americans pay zero income taxes. That my friends is no doctrine of fairness.