Obama to present $1.5-trillion tax raising plan
19 Sep 2011
President Barack Obama will call for $1.5 trillion in tax increases over the next decade as part of a plan to cut the US federal deficit by $3 trillion to be unveiled today.
The president's proposal targets mostly the wealthy and comes only days following house speaker John Boehner ruling out tax hikes to lower deficits and also comes amidst demands from sections in his own Democratic Party for a tougher stance against Republicans.
Analysts say the plan has little chance of passing Congress, though, its populist pitch would certainly find favour with the public.
At the centre of the president's plan is the proposal for over $2 trillion in deficit reduction in 10 years.
It couples the new taxes with $580 billion in cuts to mandatory benefit programs, including $248 billion from Medicare.
The administration is also targeting $1 trillion in savings over 10 years from withdrawal of troops stationed in Iraq Afghanistan.
