Obama Nominee Killefer Drops Out Over Taxes

Dems don't want to pony up for Obama's plan

(NEWSER) - Getting Congress to fund Barack Obama’s new Afghanistan strategy might be as arduous a process as the strategic review that devised it. Democrats, cold to the idea of sending more troops, don’t want to foot the bill; some are proposing a war tax to cover it. “If the president intends to go in over our objections,” explains Rep. Mike Honda, “he should have to bear the burden of asking for a tax to pay for it.” More»

In poll, less than half of Americans say they pay too much

(NEWSER) - If the administration must raise taxes, now could be its big chance, NPR reports. Only 46% of Americans in a recent Gallup poll said their taxes were too high—the smallest fraction since 1961. “Americans, relatively speaking, are more satisfied with the amount of taxes they pay than they have been at most other times in history," said a pollster. "Some people might say now's the time to pounce.” More»

To pay for new system, he must tax old 'crazy' one: Reich

(NEWSER) - During the campaign, Barack Obama was scathing about John McCain’s plan to tax employer-provided health benefits. But Obama’s going to have to bite the bullet and tax them himself if he wants to pay for his own health care initiative, writes Robert Reich in Salon. Now that Congress has killed Obama’s original plan to raise funds by cutting tax deductions for the rich, it’s the only way to generate enough revenue. More»

(NEWSER) - Offshore tax havens may not be fair, but they’ve been around for decades. So why is President Obama taking them on now, Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich asks in Salon. It’s not to try to keep jobs here, as the White House claims; the move might even drive jobs away. It’s far more likely this is a sly strategic move in the universal health-care fight. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama directed his most direct criticism yet at anti-tax “tea partiers” today at a town hall event marking his first 100 days in office, Politico reports. Though studiously vague, Obama conceded that people watching “certain news channels on which I'm not very popular” might “see folks waving tea bags around. Let me just remind them that I am happy to have a serious conversation,” he said. More»