hillbilly123069
03-03-2009, 02:38 PM
Here comes the real fucking.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=6997367
President Barack Obama's top economic officials on Tuesday vigorously defended the administration's $3.6 trillion budget against Republican claims that it contained overly optimistic economic assumptions and included stealthy tax increases that could end up hitting most Americans.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House Budget Director Peter Orszag, in separate appearances on Capitol Hill, stuck to the administration line that the president's budget would benefit 95 percent of working Americans.
Higher taxes for affluent Americans would not come until 2011 once "we are safely into recovery," Geithner told the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.
"I'm confident this is the right path for the country," Geithner said.
But Republicans argued that the portion of the budget that would require polluters to purchase permits from the government for their greenhouse gas emissions would essentially impose huge new energy costs on all consumers and businesses.
"The president's budget increases taxes on every American, and does so during a recession," Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., told Geithner.
Camp also complained about provisions that would limit the size of charitable contributions that could be taken by families earning more than $250,000 a year.
But Geithner defended the overall proposal, saying far more people would benefit from lower taxes under the plan. He said the budget reflects what Obama viewed as "a deep moral imperative to make our society more just. But it's very good economic policy too. It will mean there is again a fairer, more equitably shared tax burden on the vast majority of Americans."
Orszag faced similar questioning before the House Budget Committee.
"The new administration has inherited an economic crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetimes," Orszag said in defending the spending and tax levels of the budget.
Some lawmakers challenged the economic projections contained in the budget as far too optimistic.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=6997367
President Barack Obama's top economic officials on Tuesday vigorously defended the administration's $3.6 trillion budget against Republican claims that it contained overly optimistic economic assumptions and included stealthy tax increases that could end up hitting most Americans.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House Budget Director Peter Orszag, in separate appearances on Capitol Hill, stuck to the administration line that the president's budget would benefit 95 percent of working Americans.
Higher taxes for affluent Americans would not come until 2011 once "we are safely into recovery," Geithner told the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.
"I'm confident this is the right path for the country," Geithner said.
But Republicans argued that the portion of the budget that would require polluters to purchase permits from the government for their greenhouse gas emissions would essentially impose huge new energy costs on all consumers and businesses.
"The president's budget increases taxes on every American, and does so during a recession," Rep. Dave Camp, R-Mich., told Geithner.
Camp also complained about provisions that would limit the size of charitable contributions that could be taken by families earning more than $250,000 a year.
But Geithner defended the overall proposal, saying far more people would benefit from lower taxes under the plan. He said the budget reflects what Obama viewed as "a deep moral imperative to make our society more just. But it's very good economic policy too. It will mean there is again a fairer, more equitably shared tax burden on the vast majority of Americans."
Orszag faced similar questioning before the House Budget Committee.
"The new administration has inherited an economic crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetimes," Orszag said in defending the spending and tax levels of the budget.
Some lawmakers challenged the economic projections contained in the budget as far too optimistic.