East Cobb State of the Union Reaction
Local elected Republican officials take issue with President Obama's address. What do you think?
After President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night, prominent elected officials representing East Cobb issued sharp responses to the speech.
U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-Roswell), whose 6th District includes East Cobb and who is chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee, said the president refused to admit "that the policies of the past three years have delivered an underwhelming record of economic growth and job creation, and show an interest in changing direction and uniting, not dividing the nation."
East Cobb resident and Republican U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson struck a similar tone: "Real ‘fairness’ would be government doing what American families have had to do: sit around the kitchen table, prioritize spending, get their spending in line and not borrow too much money.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who represented East Cobb and who is surging in his presidential campaign after winning the South Carolina primary, repeated a theme of his recent stump speeches: "Bigger government and higher taxes will instead lead to more people on food stamps, a situation which the President and his party defend as a fair outcome."
Do you have a question for the president? Let us know in the comments. Provide your name, hometown and Twitter handle (if applicable) and your question by 11 a.m. Wednesday. Questions from 5 Patch readers nationwide will be forwarded to the White House for a reply.
Tom Price's constituent
6:48 am on Thursday, January 26, 2012
I would agree with Isakson except that he's wrong.
It's as if he doesn't understand basic economics. Maybe he thinks the average Georgian doesn't know that he's just playing politics.
What's really going on? Probably neither of these rich guys wants to have their capital gains taxed at the same rate as earned income. The capital gains tax rate used to be almost double what it is today. It's no surprise that wealthy people like Price and Isakson are fighting to keep THEIR taxes rates low. It's not fair that 99% of us work for a living and pay income taxes based on our income from our work, but people like our well-heeled politicians make most of their money from investments and pay at a rate that's can be half what we pay!
Greg T
10:29 am on Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Why should anyone be paying more than 15% in taxes?
What is your effective tax rate? Unless you make over $150k, I doubt you actually pay a higher tax rate than 15%. Earned income tax rates get lowered by exemptions and right-offs.
Making higher capital gains taxes hurts all investors. If you're not an investor, then you most likely live paycheck to paycheck. I may not have much invested, but what I've put in the market was already taxed as "earned income." There is almost no chance getting beyond living paycheck to paycheck without avoiding investing and therefore paying capital gains taxes.
Not sure what your understanding of economics is, but raising capital gains taxes is not a millionaire only issue.