Here’s what Coyote thinks of Obama’s mandate:
Barack Obama argues that the last election gave him a mandate to raise taxes on the rich. Put another way, he is arguing that 52% of the people voted to raise taxes on 2%.
Nice.
I particularly like his illustration:
Let’s take a look at two propositions [in California]:
- Prop 30, which propose to raise taxes on on the rich to help close the deficit (there was a token 0.25% sales tax increase for cover, but everyone knew it to be a tax on the rich).
- Prop 39, which was a broad-based income tax increase which raised taxes on most everyone (or at least on the 50% or so who pay income taxes).
So, let’s look at the results:
- Raise taxes on only the very rich: PASS
- Raise taxes on everyone (including me): FAIL
Wolves and lunch and lambs people. Wolves, lunch and lambs.
Mandates are fiction. Politics is power, negotiation, and brinksmanship. The wealthy have had their taxes lowered dramatically over the last 30 years. If they are raised, it’s ridiculous to say that somehow all the poor and average wage earners want to stick it to the rich. If that were the motive, they’d not have lowered those taxes for the last three decades! Instead, I think the argument that the winners of the last 30 years should pay more for the deficit when budgets are being cut and the poor and middle class are hurting makes sense to a lot of people. Class warfare is trying to say people want to just stick it to the rich. But a look at the last thirty years shows that’s not the case.