Donald Trump, the real-estate mogul and reality TV star, opposes President Barack Obama’s effort to deny an extension of the Bush era tax cuts for people with income of more than $200,000 a year.
The cuts, enacted in 2001 and 2003, will be revoked next year for all income brackets if Congress does nothing. Obama wants Congress to keep the reductions in place only for those with income of less than $200,000 a year.
“He’s taking away a lot of incentives from a lot of people that produce a lot of taxes,” Trump told Fox News.
Obama's proposal would boost the top tax rate to 39.6 percent next year from 35 percent currently.
Such a move will send some people out of the country in search of lower taxes, Trump says.
“But it’s getting so expensive that if you let this happen, you’ll have people leaving just like they move to other states. You’ll have people and companies leaving to other jurisdictions.”
Asia will be one destination, with many businesses already making their money there, Trump says. Those countries have much lower tax rates. So American business people will just say, “Hey what do I need this for?” Trump said.
“It creates the wrong image. You really have to keep the taxes down.”
Trump isn’t too impressed with Obama overall.
“I’d love to say he’s doing well, but a lot of people aren’t happy,” he said. “Polls indicate he’s not doing well.”
Gallup’s daily poll showed Obama with only a 45 percent approval rating Tuesday.
“Democrats don’t think they’re going to win their elections,” Trump said. “These are people who have been in Congress for years and years.”
Trump says one Democrat he knows who’s done a very good job told him he won’t get re-elected no matter what he does.
“So obviously a lot of people don’t think they’re doing very well,” Trump said.
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan disagrees with him about the tax issue.
Congress should let the tax cuts of expire to help trim the mushrooming budget deficit, Greenspan says.
“They should follow the law and let them lapse,” he told Bloomberg.
“I think we misunderstand the momentum of this deficit going forward. ... Unless we start to come to grips with this long-term outlook, we are going to have major problems.”
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