Taxing The Wealthy | featured news

President Barack Obama will release a plan on Monday calling for more than $3 trillion in deficit cuts over 10 years, with about half of the savings coming from higher taxes on the wealthy and big corporations.

Republican leaders on Sunday criticized President Barack Obama's proposal for a new tax on millionaires, calling it "class warfare" and predicting it will face heavy opposition in Congress.

President Barack Obama, in a populist step designed to appeal to voters, will propose a "Buffett Tax" on people making more than $1 million a year as part of his deficit recommendations to Congress on Monday.

A new survey of Obama voters by Survey USA found that by a margin of 82%-18% they are more likely to support him again in 2012 if he raises taxes on the rich. The good news for Obama is that 66% of those who voted for him in 2008 approve of his handling of the economy compared to 27% who disapprove. Sixty three percent of those who disapprove are doing so because they believe that Obama has been too willing to compromise with Republicans. The president’s voters made it very clear what they want.

Republicans planned sharp cuts to foreign aid and education on Wednesday, while Democrats weighed a tax hike on millionaires, highlighting the yawning divide between the two parties in the budget debate.

The battle over whether tax increases can be used to cut the nation's debt flared Tuesday as the Senate's Democratic budget writer floated a possible millionaire's surtax to help cut projected deficits over the next decade. But Republican leaders flatly said no to tax increases....

Most Americans oppose the big spending cuts that many in Washington see as necessary to bring down the budget deficit, a new poll suggests, but they do support one idea for deficit reduction that President Barack Obama has pushed for years — raising taxes on the rich.

Taxes on high-income earners would rise by nearly $1 trillion over the next 10 years, under the budget plan. Capital gains and dividends will be taxed at 20% rather than 15%.

House Democrats shouldn't expect votes from Republicans in passing a bill that increases taxes on the rich to pay for health care reform.

House Democrats took a big step toward guaranteeing health insurance as they introduced a bill that would expand coverage and raise taxes on high-income people.