US election: Barack Obama throws down economic challenge to Mitt Romney

“It’s not like I like to pay taxes,” said Mr Obama. “I might
feel differently if we were still in surplus, but we have these huge
deficits.”

The President’s plan would raise the top federal tax rate for couples earning
$250,000 (£161,551) from 33 per cent to 36, and for couples earning more
than $388,350 (£250,953) from 36 per cent to 39.6.

Some 2.7 million households across the country – the top 1.7 per cent – would
face a rise in tax bills from January 1, according to the Tax Policy Centre.

Conservatives accused the President of class warfare. Mr Romney’s spokesman
said he was threatening small business-owners with a “massive tax
increase” during an unemployment crisis.

“The President doesn’t have a clue how to get America working again and
help the middle class,” said Andrea Saul. “The last thing we need
to do in this economy is raise taxes on anyone”.

The announcement theoretically sets out Mr Obama’s stall for a coming showdown
about how to deal with the so-called “fiscal cliff” whose edge
America is due to reach at midnight on December 31.

Along with $100 billion (£64.6 billion) in new spending cuts, a looming “taxmageddon”,
including the expiry of the Bush tax cuts, would suck an estimated $500
billion (£323.1 billion) from the economy.

While this would help the US government reduce its £1.5 trillion (£969
billion) budget deficit, four out of five households would face paying
$3,701 (£2,392) more in tax, according to the Tax Policy Centre.

Economists warn that such a dramatic shock could knock four per cent off the
country’s annual growth figure, throwing the US back into recession with
dramatic knock-on effects for the rest of the world.

However, with Congress sharply divided between a Democratic-controlled Senate
and a Republican-controlled House, no deal is likely before the winner of
November’s presidential election is known.

Mr Obama’s policy will therefore be used primarily as a stick with which to
beat Mr Romney.

Opinion polls have consistently shown that a majority of Americans support Mr
Obama’s plan to raise taxes on top earners while protecting those earning
less.

Mr Bush’s tax cuts were extended for a year in December 2010, as Mr Obama
moved to protect the fragile economic recovery. His proposed extension for
lower earners would last another year.

The tax cuts were supposed to use up budget surpluses left behind by President
Bill Clinton from the boom years of the 1990s. Citizens for Tax Justice, a
pressure group, estimate cuts for the top five per cent of earners cost the
US $1.1 trillion (£788 billion) over the past decade.

Mr Romney on Monday announced that he and Republican headquarters raised $106
million (£65 million) in June – beating Mr Obama and setting a record for
the 2012 presidential campaign.

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