At the Mercy of the Obama Tax Hikes

Heritage Foundation

When will the Obama administration admit their economic stimulus plan, which cost more than the Iraq war, failed? The stimulus has already failed to create the 3.5 million jobs President Barack Obama promised it would. It has already failed to keep unemployment below the 8% the President's top economists predicted it would. And now, the Department of Labor reported today, a full 15 months after the National Bureau of Economic Research certified that the recession ended, that the U.S. economy lost another 95,000 jobs in September. Total employment in the United States economy now stands at 130.2 million. This is 7.6 million jobs short of where the President promised the economy would be by December 2010 if Congress adopted his economic policies. 9.6% unemployment. A 7.6 million jobs gap. Unemployment is actually higher now than when the recession ended in June. If this is not the definition of failure, then what is?

By contrast, when the 1980s recession ended in December 1982, unemployment stood at 10.8%. Fifteen months into President Ronald Reagan’s economic recovery, and unemployment had already fallen three full points to 7.8%. Why was the Reagan recovery such a success? And why is the Obama recovery such a failure? Well, for starters, President Reagan did not saddle our children with a brand new $1 trillion entitlement. But more urgently, President Reagan also did not threaten the U.S. economy with the largest tax hike in American history.

There still is time for Congress to act to prevent the Obama tax hikes. Tax hikes that include higher rates on individual income, capital gains and dividends. No Americans will escape the damage from the Obama tax hikes including: 1) Destroying an average of 693,000 jobs every year through 2020; 2) Draining $726 billion from disposable income, $38 billion from personal savings and $33 billion from business investments; 3) costing the average non-farm small-business owner $3,500 more in taxes, and much, much more.

But the economic harms from the Obama tax hike are already being felt. The Washington Post reports today that because of Congress’ failure to take action on the tax hikes before the November election, millions of businesses will have trouble issuing everyone’s paycheck this January. The Post reports that if no action is taken, “millions of low- and middle-income taxpayers would see significant tax increases.” Former president of the American Payroll Association Dennis Danilewicz told the Post: “People are starting to say, ‘What are we going to do?’ Everyone is kind of at Congress’ mercy.”

Quick Hits:

* After Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) challenged HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’ claim that under Obamacare “there will be more Medicare Advantage plans to choose from,” the HHS changed Sebelius’ online statement to read “there will be more meaningful choices.”
* The Obama administration sent approximately $18 million worth of stimulus funds to more than 89,000 dead people.
* Gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid (D), also son of Majority Leader Harry Reid (D), admitted last night that Obamacare puts “significant pressure on states because Medicaid rates could go up significantly.”
* Doctors tell the “Miami Today” website that the rising costs and lower payments associated with Obamacare is making it increasingly difficult to run a doctor practice.
* Join Heritage Foundation Education Policy Analyst Lindsey Burke today at Noon (EDT) for a special live online chat, here, on The Foundry.