You can glance out your window and see it coming: a tsunami of tax hikes set to overwhelm our shores in 2011. Americans for Tax Reform has detailed the staggering list here.
Most Americans don’t seem to know they’re about to be swept up in this, but they will soon as the tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 expire (which affect everyone – not just the rich – despite what the media consistently reported), the new ObamaCare taxes kick in, a wide array of taxes on businesses are implemented, and much more.
Now, in case the campaign promise of our President Obama is fading from your mind, allow me to refresh your memory:
I can make a firm pledge. Under my plan, no family making less than $250,000 a year will see any form of tax increase. Not your income tax, not your payroll tax, not your capital gains taxes, not any of your taxes.
He, of course, already broke that pledge by raising taxes on tobacco users (the vast majority of whom make less than $250,000/year) at a record rate. But that’s obviously nothing compared to what’s coming, and it doesn’t matter how much you make. My wife and I don’t bring in anywhere close to even half that magic $250,000 figure, yet we can expect, for example, our tax bracket to rise, our combined child tax credit to be cut by $1,000 (and another $1,000 if our adoption of two more children goes through as it should next year), our taxes on savings and investments to increase, and higher medical costs as the new taxes are passed through to we the consumers.
As an average family who’s doing its best to push through this rough economy, taking thousands more from us in taxes every year is going to make that task all the more difficult. And for those who are barely scraping by, this will cripple many of them. Prepare to see a massive slowdown in our economy — which is already on life-support — as people have far less money to spend on amenities and essentials, resulting, as always, in higher unemployment.
One of the saddest parts of all this is that because most Americans seem to have no idea this tsunami is bearing down on us, they’re unable to adequately prepare for its impact. They will be blindsided by an enormous drop in whatever disposable income they’re still clinging to (if any). This is partly the fault of those who don’t inform themselves as they should, but also partly because they have been actively misinformed by their President and the media, convinced that if they’re not part of the rich, they’ll be left alone.
Everyone should know by now, though, that this government leaves no one alone. They intend to control every aspect of our lives, and they will tax, regulate, and destroy whatever and whomever they have to to get there.
