Barack Obama is a saying he will veto any bill with "tax cuts" for the "rich." What he really means, of course, is that he will veto any bill which continues the current tax rates (which, after 11 years, are hardly "tax cuts" anymore) for those making $250,000.00 or more.
To which I say: Fine. Barack Obama has been promising tax hikes since he became President in 2009. He has demonized wealth creators (here's a hint: the ultra-rich don't pay marginal tax rates in the first place, they pay capital gains rates) for far longer than that. The American People, on Tuesday, voted to affirm that vision. So Republicans should give it to them.
But instead of just raising taxes on "the rich," they should point out that if the Clinton tax rates are good enough for one demographic, they should be good enough for all demographics, and simply let the the Bush tax rates expire. In addition, (and I'm completely stealing this from Ace and Glenn Reynolds) they should add a tax premium on income generated from movies, books, TV, and music. Unlike those "evil" oil companies, entertainment companies really do get special tax breaks that apply to them and only to them. Remove them. After all, who makes more money, Mitt Romney, or George Clooney? And aren't there just gaggles of Hollywood types who were assuring us that they'd like to pay higher taxes but, gosh darn it, the IRS wouldn't send them a higher bill? Well, let's send them a higher bill.
Yes, Barack Obama will demagogue this, but he'll demagogue anything. We could offer him everything he's asked for, and then he'd just move the goal posts again. Why worry about that?
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