United States Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has hit the campaign trail to push the Obama Administration's recent efforts to let tax cuts expire for those with incomes above $250,000 per year.
Geithner went onto national television to argue that with the economy slumping and deficit rising, it only makes sense for the rich to increase their contribution to the nation's coffers.
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New Black Charity Leaders
Hill Harper: This Harvard law school graduate-turned-actor has helped motivate youth through his MANifest Your Destiny Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides young men and women with nurturing support systems, resources, encouragement, and guidance through mentorship, scholarships and grant programs. Harper regularly travels around the country providing motivational workshops to youth and educators, and has authored two books, 'Letters to a Young Brother' and 'Letters to a Young Sister' to further help our youth develop productive futures.
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Obama to Tax the Rich?
Mary J. Blige: This international R&B superstar has become an advocate for women by co-founding the Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now (FFAWN), opening the Mary J. Blige Center for Women in Yonkers, NY, and adopting an all-girls public high school in the Bronx, NY by serving as a mentor and providing college scholarships.
Obama to Tax the Rich?
Chris Rock and Malaak Compton-Rock: Chris Rock has donated quietly for many years to his local Salvation Army where he spent time as a youth, but his wife Malaak Compton-Rock is taking the couple's philanthropy to new heights through her organization The Angel Rock Project, and its program Journey for Change that empowers youth through global service. Want to learn 100+ ways to live a life of service? Check out her new book, 'If It Takes a Village, Build One.'
Obama to Tax the Rich?
Usher: This R&B superstar wants to groom the next generation of leaders and philanthropists! Usher's New Look Foundation provides career development, service opportunities, mentorship, and grants for youth led service projects through its Camp New Look Leadership Academy, Moguls in Training program, and Powered By Service, an initiative designed to get young people involved in changing their communities and the world. At the initiative's launch in 2009, Usher pledged $1 million dollars to the project, which has plans to mobilize over 5,000,000 youth in a global call to service.
Obama to Tax the Rich?
Hill Harper: This Harvard law school graduate-turned-actor has helped motivate youth through his MANifest Your Destiny Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides young men and women with nurturing support systems, resources, encouragement, and guidance through mentorship, scholarships and grant programs. Harper regularly travels around the country providing motivational workshops to youth and educators, and has authored two books, 'Letters to a Young Brother' and 'Letters to a Young Sister' to further help our youth develop productive futures.
Obama to Tax the Rich?
Alicia Keys: As the co-founder and global ambassador for the non-profit organization Keep A Child Alive, Alicia was inspired to support HIV/AIDS treatment initiatives after a trip to Africa. Because of her dedicated efforts, the organization has raised millions of dollars for AIDS patients in Africa and India, ensuring that they receive life saving medical treatment.
Obama to Tax the Rich?
Rodney Peete and Holly Robinson-Peete: Actress Holly Robinson-Peete became an advocate for autism after her son was diagnosed with the disorder. In an effort to help others living with the autism, Holly and her husband Rodney recently released the books, 'Not My Boy' and 'My Brother Charlie.' Inspired by their son and Holly's father who passed from a battle with Parkinson's disease, the couple formed hollyrod4kids with the mission to help improve the quality of life of people plagued with devastating life circumstances.
Obama to Tax the Rich?
Steve Harvey: This best-selling author and syndicated radio personality is on a mission to mentor young boys and help groom the next generation of leaders through the Steve Harvey Mentoring Weekend for Young Men, the Steve Harvey Disney Dreamers Academy and the Steve Harvey Foundation. He shared on his foundation's blog, "...you are blessed to become a blessing period. God does not bless us to become blessings and not reach back and give in our community."
Obama to Tax the Rich?
Alonzo & Tracy Mourning: This philanthropic couple each have initiatives that inspire, empower and enrich the lives of youth in Miami, Florida. In 1997, Alonzo founded Alonzo Mourning Charities, which has raised over $7 million for non-profits serving at-risk children and youth, and the Overtown Youth Center for underprivileged youth. His wife Tracy created the Honey Shine Mentoring program for young girls. Due to their charitable efforts, a high school was named in their honor -- Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High Biscayne Bay Campus!
Obama to Tax the Rich?
Specifically, Obama and his economic advisors argue that families earning over $250,000 per year should have their Bush era tax cuts removed, and that these that these tax cuts were part of the reason for our current economic crisis.
"We're in a transition... from the extraordinary actions the government had to take to break the back of this financial crisis to a recovery led by private demand," Geithner told the NBC program 'Meet the Press.' "That transition is well under way. It's going to continue and it's going to strengthen."
One of the challenges for the Obama Administration is that some believe that getting rid of tax cuts for the wealthy will hurt small businesses. But the administration has made it clear that this will not be the case.
Whether you agree with Obama's decision to allow the wealthy to pay more in taxes is primarily an ideological divide. There are some who believe that wealth should be shared, and that a weak distribution of wealth is bad for our nation. There are others who believe that those who have wealth are entitled to keep every penny, including the billionaires who've died this year without paying a single cent in estate taxes (which, for some strange reason, have been completely repealed for one year).
One thing that's clear about the United States is that we are an incredibly greedy nation. Our distribution of wealth is the worst among all industrialized countries other than Switzerland. The wealthiest 20 percent of Americans have accumulated 94 percent of the non-residential wealth created by our nation over the past 20 years, which some might feel to be appalling. Also, being the richest country in the world, we've somehow become convinced that holding onto our luxury is more important than saving the dying poor in other countries. And we consider ourselves to be a Christian nation?
Given the reality of such poor wealth distribution, letting the tax break on the wealthiest Americans expire is hardly an issue worth fighting over.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. 
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Comments: (15)
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By: david on 7/26/2010 3:15PM
GOOD! i'm sick of the robber-barrons running this country into the ground. we could all drop dead and they wouldn't care one ounce as long as they could keep their regal lifestyles upon high.
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By: Leslie on 7/27/2010 9:08AM
I am awaiting the day for people to display their intelligence, and ask themselves a few questions. First, how did many individuals GAIN their wealth? What percentage of minorities are as WEALTHY as non-minority individuals? What makes individuals convinced, if they keep waiting, this alleged wealth will trickle down? Finally, how many of these individuals with the passed down wealth, have given or demanded that the same way they GAINED the wealth, is the SAME way they will redistribute and SHARE!!!!
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By: wha-up on 7/26/2010 3:17PM
yeah, obama, keep taking from the wealthy, and they will just take their money out of the economy altogether, does hussein know that the wealthy people are the ones that create jobs, if you keep taking from them they will have to stop suppling jobs. i'm sorry but not everyone will ever be finacially equal.
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By: rh on 7/28/2010 3:11PM
Obama's plan I fear will take the incentive out to invest and work in this country, because of the free loaders,waiting for a government handout who are not old or feeble in the mind or severely disabled to work.The federal estate tax is double taxation on wealth saved.My fathers estate was taxed like this and he worked hard for his money for a man with limited formal education. I was very angry, when I had to pay 45% in taxes to the IRS,which should have went to his heirs.Estate tax if any should be paid by billionaire tycoons who made their money from public investments and exempt
for those who created jobs that employes five thousand and up.
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By: stare k on 7/27/2010 3:02PM
To wha-up .Do you know what the BIBLE TELL THE RICH TO DO ? SELL WHAT YOU HAVE AND GIVE IT TO THE POOR . IT IS EASIER FOR A CAMEL TO GO THROUGH AN EYE OF AN NEEDLE ,THAN IT IS FOE A RICH MAN TO ENTER INTO HEAVEN.
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By: detroitlife on 7/31/2010 10:12AM
You're an idiot if you think wealthy people create jobs. Demand for a product is why a job to make the product is create......and you dont have to be wealthy to have a product someone wants. Stop listening to the lies.
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By: qnswmn on 7/26/2010 4:20PM
It would be about damn time, after all they are the only ones left with money! As far the fallacy of job creation and development by the wealthy is concerned, the only jobs that are created by the moneyed are part time, minimum wage positions that have no real potential for growth or advancement opportunities. Oh, and as soon as the employee work long enough to be eligible to health benefits, vacation, etc. they are laid off! The wealthy engage in all of this and as soon as they receive all the corporate welfare benefits, (tax breaks) they close up shop with fat pockets and go on to their next exploitative exploits! In the end, the wealthy are no help to the economy or those who they employ!
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By: The Cynic on 7/27/2010 1:44AM
A little information on how the marginal tax rate was back in the day.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2007/04/are_the_rich_really_different
http://www.ntu.org/tax-basics/history-of-federal-individual-1.html
Our tax system was WAY more progressive back in the day. 91% percent for the richest Americans 35% today. Keep in mind that their income has been rising exponentially over the years while ours has stayed the same. How the hell our you going to enact tax cuts for the wealthy while were in a war. These conservatives kill me when they talk about government spending. Have you seen our military budget? In 2009 we spent 46.5% of the world's total military spending with China's 7% coming in at 2nd. Smh... take out China and that's one country who makes up 5% of the world's population spending more than the rest of the world's military expenditure combined!!! Our elite has TOO much control of our government.
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By: John Schroy on 7/27/2010 7:28AM
If taxes on the rich are so bad, why are so many of the Super-rich liberals? The answer is that the Obama taxes really don't hurt the Super-rich, like John Kerry, Jon Corzine, or George Soros. Instead they hurt small business that produce most US jobs.
The Super-rich liberals say, you can have part of my milk, just as long as you don't take away my cow.
See the article, "Why the Super-rich are often liberals" at http://capital-flow-watch.net/pbrbc
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By: Dianne on 7/28/2010 1:33PM
Dr.Boyce Watkins, So glad you found out about the Swiss. I had a dear Swiss-American friend whose parents got her and her sister out of there back in the 1920s. She was the most charitably concerned person I ever met, that you had a place to live and had a job. She helped me so much during the Labor Dept.Freeze back at the end of the 1970s and early 1980s. Why did her parents leave when they did. Because during the war,Switzerland closed their doors as much as possible to those fleeing the regime of the Third Reich. Tourists who came to small Swiss hotels and tried to stay in the country were known by the Swiss as "haf-lingers". This goes way back.
Many of my current friends are Lancaster County Old Order Amish or Mennonites who are Christians but neither Evangelical or Fundamentalists; they began coming here 500 years ago because of persecution by the Swiss. They were amazed to learn that my Swiss-American landlord, fourth generation to inherit the land but very non-religious had dumped diesel fuel on all my 21 year collection of "country floral borders" after receiving many thousands of dollas in rent from me.
He wanted to dominate and control. The Swiss have a crony system among those who came here, which is quite different than other cultures and the politics of it had set in here and calcified politically so that it was easy pickings for Bush,jr. to take advantage of politically for his own purposes. Their reactionary startled behaviour since, because they never expected Obama to really win the election,is ultra Republican lack of education that there is any other way of doing things. I have been planning on moving as a result because I remember what it was like when the first 11 years that I lived here,we lived without a Democrat in Congress(and we still vote in Churches, when I think William Penn would have approved of separation of Church and State);when Sen.Casey was elected, that fortunately made it possible to prepare some structure just in time when Barack Obama came to call locally and amazed the population. When things return to the way they were before, I don't want to live here.
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