Posted 9:28 pm Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Send to Kindle
Does anyone really want higher taxes?
One mystery of the last election — the last several, actually — is the support shown by wealthy liberals for tax plans that would disproportionately affect them.
From Warren Buffett’s demand that he himself pay more in taxes (seriously, is anything stopping him?) to Hollywood’s adoration for both President Barack Obama and California Gov. Jerry Brown, the phenomenon seems to defy explanation. Someone of means and celebrity, common sense would indicate, would break away from the pack and admit he or she doesn’t want to pay higher taxes.
Someone has.
Susan Estrich isn’t just any Hollywood liberal. She’s a bicoastal super-lawyer, the manager of Michael Dukakis’ 1988 campaign, a political columnist and a frequent television pundit.
And she’s calling on Obama to rethink his plan to soak to rich.
“I did not vote for Obama because I think I am paying too little in taxes,” she writes. “Like many people I know, I am ‘rich’ by Obama’s standards. I pay more taxes, percentage wise, than Mitt Romney and Warren Buffett, because I earn virtually every penny of my income.”
Like both candidates in the presidential race, she says she wants to close “loopholes.” But the devil is in the details, she says, and the details are looking pretty discouraging for the middle class.
From Warren Buffett’s demand that he himself pay more in taxes (seriously, is anything stopping him?) to Hollywood’s adoration for both President Barack Obama and California Gov. Jerry Brown, the phenomenon seems to defy explanation. Someone of means and celebrity, common sense would indicate, would break away from the pack and admit he or she doesn’t want to pay higher taxes.
Someone has.
Susan Estrich isn’t just any Hollywood liberal. She’s a bicoastal super-lawyer, the manager of Michael Dukakis’ 1988 campaign, a political columnist and a frequent television pundit.
And she’s calling on Obama to rethink his plan to soak to rich.
“I did not vote for Obama because I think I am paying too little in taxes,” she writes. “Like many people I know, I am ‘rich’ by Obama’s standards. I pay more taxes, percentage wise, than Mitt Romney and Warren Buffett, because I earn virtually every penny of my income.”
Like both candidates in the presidential race, she says she wants to close “loopholes.” But the devil is in the details, she says, and the details are looking pretty discouraging for the middle class.
“I am all for ending deductions for things I don’t even understand,” she says. “But I am not for putting a low cap on deductions that would make it all but impossible for the charities I support to raise funds. I am not for putting a limit on the mortgage deduction that would mean, as a practical matter, that ‘middle class’ (not rich) people in California would be priced out of the housing market, and the charities I support would not be able to raise what they need to survive. And frankly, I don’t think I’m alone. As a matter of fact, on this one, I don’t think 51 percent of all Americans are to my ‘left’ — if that’s how you define the higher tax constituency.”
The fact is no one wants to pay higher taxes (if Mr. Buffett truly did, he wouldn’t write off all of that charity giving he does, for example). If Susan Estrich’s column is a warning shot, Obama’s proposed — make that demanded — tax hikes on the “wealthy” will face resistance, even from the left.
“Obama needs to be very careful,” she warns. “Yes, he was re-elected. But so were all those folks who blocked the extension of the Bush tax cuts if they excluded individuals and small businesses who make enough money to qualify as rich — but not enough to send their kids to college, or help their aging parents, or buy a home in a decent neighborhood. We need to avoid going over the fiscal cliff. But Obama must also avoid the political cliff.”
Of course, the reality of the situation is that some combination of revenue increases — and that means rate increases — and spending cuts will be required.
But she’s right; there’s little stomach, even on the left, for big tax hikes.
The fact is no one wants to pay higher taxes (if Mr. Buffett truly did, he wouldn’t write off all of that charity giving he does, for example). If Susan Estrich’s column is a warning shot, Obama’s proposed — make that demanded — tax hikes on the “wealthy” will face resistance, even from the left.
“Obama needs to be very careful,” she warns. “Yes, he was re-elected. But so were all those folks who blocked the extension of the Bush tax cuts if they excluded individuals and small businesses who make enough money to qualify as rich — but not enough to send their kids to college, or help their aging parents, or buy a home in a decent neighborhood. We need to avoid going over the fiscal cliff. But Obama must also avoid the political cliff.”
Of course, the reality of the situation is that some combination of revenue increases — and that means rate increases — and spending cuts will be required.
But she’s right; there’s little stomach, even on the left, for big tax hikes.
