Earned income in the U.S. is taxed at a higher rate than investment income. That disparity is at the heart of President Barack Obama's proposal to impose higher taxes on Americans earning more than $250,000 a year.
Republicans call that a tax grab -- akin to declaring war on the country's job creators, says rising conservative star Paul Ryan.
"Class warfare will simply divide the country more. It will attack job creators and it doesn't grow the economy," Ryan said.
President Obama disagrees. "If asking a millionaire to pay the same tax rate as a plumber makes me a class warrior, a warrior for the working class, I will accept that. I will wear that as a badge of honor," Obama said.
The issue could further divide the country in an election year.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who co-founded a private equity firm, admits he paid less than 14 percent on his investment income in 2010. Compare that to some wage earners who paid 35 percent. Romney proposes bigger cuts in government spending and lower taxes for all. It's a position that runs counter to the approach favored by President Obama: fewer cuts to social programs, and more infrastructure spending - paid for in part, by higher taxes on the rich.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25