Paying for Obama's jobs bill: Tax hikes for the rich?

The president wants to fund his $447 billion jobs bill by scrapping tax breaks for hedge fund managers — and families making north of $250,000 a year

President Obama wants to pay for his $447 billion jobs plan by taxing the rich, and many conservatives are already vowing to oppose that strategy.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

On Monday, Obama budget director Jack Lew explained how the president proposes to pay for his $447 billion American Jobs Act. The big takeaway: Tax increases for wealthier Americans. Obama's plan would limit itemized deductions for families earning more than $250,000 a year, make it harder for hedge fund managers to claim income at the lower capital-gains rate, and close loopholes for oil companies. Obama's proposals would bring in an estimated $467 billion over 10 years, starting in 2013. Do they have any chance of passing?

This plan will never pass: "These tax hikes will go nowhere in Congress, but that's probably by design," says Bryan Preston at Pajamas Media. If Obama really wanted to create jobs — not just save his own — he wouldn't have proposed huge "tax hikes that will force business to cut their spending." And it's not just Republicans who will object: Obama's attempts to soak the rich didn't pass when Democrats controlled Congress, either.

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