PODCAST: Taxes on the Rich

David Weinberger / April 23, 2011

In a timely Heritage in Focus, Heritage expert Curtis Dubay discusses part of President Obama’s budget proposal to raise taxes on the wealthy – those earning over $250,000.

The president’s budget this year is $3.6 trillion. Confiscating every single penny from every income earner making more than $114,000 – everyone in the top 10 percent of income earners – would still only generate $3.4 trillion. Not enough to cover the entirety of the 2011 budget.

On top of that, Medicare alone, with its current unfunded liabilities, is anywhere between $45 trillion and $90 trillion in debt. To think of it another way, people are receiving benefits three times the amount they contribute in to Medicare. It goes without saying that this can’t continue – and left, right and center all agree on that. (more…)