Lawmakers Propose ‘War Surtax’ To Pay For Afghanistan Troop Increase
Seems like there’s always some new tax being proposed these days.
And now, two politicians are talking about making Americans pay a “war surtax” for expanding the conflict in Afghanistan.
Mike Emauel wrote on the FOX News website yesterday:
Two top Democrats say they want to impose a new tax on the wealthy to finance any increase in U.S. troops for the Afghanistan war.
Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chairman of the purse string-controlling House Appropriations Committee, is calling the idea a “war surtax.” He said that just as the federal government is expected to pay for its proposed intervention in the health care sector with new taxes, any escalated involvement in Afghanistan should come with a payment plan.
“If we have to pay for the health care bill, we should pay for the war as well … by having a war surtax,” Obey told ABC News in an interview that aired Monday.
“The problem in this country with this issue is that the only people that has to sacrifice are military families and they’ve had to go to the well again and again and again and again, and everybody else is blithely unaffected by the war.”
Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is making a similar demand.
“On the merits I think it’s a mistake to deepen our involvement. But if we are going to do that, then at least we ought to pay for it. Because if we don’t, if we don’t pay for it, then the cost of the Afghan war will wipe out every other initiative that we have to rebuild our economy,” he said. “Ain’t going to be no money for nothing if we pour it all into Afghanistan.”
Obey’s proposal would be a “graduated tax” on income. It reportedly would start at 1 percent for low-income earners and rise to 5 percent for high-income earners. He’s calling it a surtax because it would essentially be a tax on income that is already subject to federal income tax.
Levin, D-Mich., offered a similar proposal in an interview with Bloomberg Television. He said he wants an additional tax on those making more than $200,000 or $250,000.
“They have done incredibly well, and I think that it’s important that we pay for it if we possibly can,” Levin said.
Stay tuned, folks.
Source:
“Lawmakers Propose ‘War Surtax’ to Pay for Troop Increase in Afghanistan”
Mike Emanuel
FOXNews.com, November 23, 2009
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