Dems seek "rich" tax to fund war
source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aI4IdHYuAl94
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Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Higher-income Americans should be taxed to pay for more troops sent to Afghanistan and NATO should provide half of the new soldiers, said Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
An “additional income tax to the upper brackets, folks earning more than $200,000 or $250,000” a year, could fund more troops, Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said in an interview for Bloomberg Television’s “Political Capital With Al Hunt,” airing this weekend.
White House Budget Director Peter Orszag has estimated that each additional soldier in Afghanistan could cost $1 million, for a total that could reach $40 billion if 40,000 more troops are added.
That cost, Levin said, should be paid by wealthier taxpayers. “They have done incredibly well, and I think that it’s important that we pay for it if we possibly can” instead of increasing the federal debt load, the senator said.
Other countries in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization should bear responsibility for delivering half the additional troops needed to secure the conflict zone and train Afghan forces, Levin said. He didn’t predict how many troops President Barack Obama would add.
Levin also said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who has faced calls for his resignation from Republicans in Congress, should stay as long as he has Obama’s confidence. The six-term senator said the administration was right to move the prosecution of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, to federal court in New York from a military commission in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Troop Decision Near
On Afghanistan, Obama may decide within a few weeks whether to grant a request from the top commander in the field, General Stanley McChrystal, for 40,000 more troops to fight the Taliban, which harbored al-Qaeda before being toppled in the invasion following the Sept. 11 attacks. The U.S. contributes about 70,000 of the 110,000 foreign forces waging the Afghan war.
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KSirys
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I think anyone making over $200k should be taxed higher!!! no matter what the cause! When i was taxed in my younger days... (i'm 33 and I feel old! =(... ) I remember just paying 28% on $250k.. why? because my tax advisor asked me, "do you want to pay more? or do you want to keep more?"
The sad thing about this country, is whenever you do have money, everything in society has a loop hole for you. When you're poor, nothing is available...
But lets tax away!! I wouldn't mind paying more taxes as long as they went to schools, education, playgrounds, transportation for kids, anything that has to do with making our kids safe and easier to study and get smarter!!! Not for government people, sitting on their asses while playing solitaire.
- 2 years ago
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KSirys
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artemis6
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All the war profiteers profits should go to fund it . If they only could make profits in peacetime , that would be good . Make it a law , and war will fall out of fashion so fast .....
- 2 years ago
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artemis6
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SleepDirt
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An idea whose time has surely come. Who more than the wealthy elites have cheerleaded us all into perpetual war?
If they heart war so much, shouldn't they pay their fair share. - 2 years ago
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SleepDirt
