Harry Reid Drops Millionaire Surtax Into Jobs Bill

Is the new proposed millionaire surtax sound fiscal policy or a "desperate tax hike" gimmick?

Earlier today, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid inserted a millionaire surtax into President Obama's $447 billion jobs bill to help pay for the legislation.

The tax would create a "surtax" of 5.6% for anybody making over $1 million per year. This surtax would be charged on any income over the $1 million mark.

Reid said this about the proposed tax:

"Even the Tea Party thinks it's time for millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share."

As you can imagine, many in the Republican party immediately spoke out against the proposed tax.

House Speaker John Boehner said that the tax proposal was a "desperate tax hike" gimmick.

Republicans are fervertly against raising taxes on the "job creators", so there is absolutely no reason to think that this millionaire surtax will ever see the light of day.

In reality, the surtax is just more political posturing ahead of the 2012 Presidential election. The Democrats will be trying to paint the Republican party as greedy and only interested in protecting the top earners in the country, while Republicans are trying to paint the Democrats as the party that is standing in the way of an economic recovery in the country.

Harry Reid has said that a vote on the bill will come "very, very soon".

Democrats have said that the jobs bill is necessary in order to keep unemployment under 9.1%, while Republicans have decried the complete jobs bill as more government bloat.

Source: Foxnews.com - Reid Inserts Millionaire Surtax to Pay for Jobs Bill, Boehner Calls Move 'Desperate'

Filed under: General Knowledge