THE PRESIDENT: That $2.2 trillion is a lot even for a Senator from Massachusetts. (Laughter.) So they said, how are you going to pay for it? How are you going to pay for this new spending? He said, we're going to tax the rich. Now, you've heard that before, haven't you? Here's the problem with that. You can't raise enough money by taxing the rich to pay for $2.2 trillion. There's a tax gap. And guess who always gets stuck with the bill? I'll tell you something else about that language, tax the rich. The rich hire lawyers and accountants for a reason, so you get stuck with the bill. We're not going to let John Kerry tax you, because we're going to carry Pennsylvania and win in November. (Applause.) (link)and, along the same lines at another appearance, the president said this:
Let me tell you one other problem he has with that. He says, oh, I'm just going to tax the rich. Well, the rich hire lawyers and accountants for a reason -- that's to stick you with the tab. But we're not going to let him tax you, we're going to carry Iowa and the country in November. (Applause.) (link)echidne asks:
The sitting president of the United States is openly admitting that he doesn't care enough about taxing the rich to enforce the tax laws that these rich people evade, or to make the tax laws fairer if they now allow the rich to escape taxes legally. And this is not commented on the Fox News? That George Bush has given up on any attempts to make the rich pay taxes? That George Bush actually thinks this idea is so good that it should be shared with all the faithful of the Republican party?ironically, at around the same time that bush made these campaign remarks, he signed a new tax law vastly increasing the tax breaks for big corporations.
Enacted to close off a $5 billion-a-year tax break for U.S. manufacturers, the bill closes it, then opens other loopholes worth $137 billion. It also tries to encourage new manufacturing in the United States by expanding the definition of "manufacturing" to provide tax breaks for U.S. film production, residential and commercial construction, coffee stands, Long Island fishermen, breweries and winemakers.but there's more! it's not just large multinationals that are having their taxes slashed, it's also providing much needed help to rich expats. but there's still more!:
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Even by Washington standards, this bill was extravagant, a 650-page behemoth that attracted the capital's most accomplished lobbyists representing companies large and small.
Labeled the "no lobbyist left behind act" by investment bankers Goldman Sachs, the bill drew the discreet criticism of Treasury Secretary John Snow, who pleaded with lawmakers to trim targeted tax breaks "that go far beyond the bill's core objective."
Keith Ashdown, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, was more direct, savaging the bill as "an early Christmas gift for corporate fat cats ... a buffet table full of greasy giveaways."
Perhaps the most amazing provision might be called the "foreign gambler relief act." Under current law, if you win big at the horse or dog track, you get hit with withholding tax on your winnings. American citizens still will pay, but nonresident foreigners can gamble tax-free.and people say the bush administration has antagonized foreigners. we might invade their country, but they can always come here to gamble, tax free!
so, to answer mr. bush's rhetoric, the rich don't evade taxes because of their lawyers or accountants, they evade them because his administration creates nice juicy loopholes for them. the problem isn't lawyers after all (whew!), but rather reckless fiscally irresponsible politicians like george bush.
