President Obama this weekend appeared to dash the America Dream cornerstones of hard work and self-enterprise in a pitch to exclude America’s high wage-earners from a tax break, telling successful people they “didn’t get there on your own.”
Obama’s comment Friday during a campaign stop in Roanoke, Va., came just days after he urged Congress to extend tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration only to families earning less than $250,000 annually – part of his argument that the wealthy have an obligation to pay more to trim the deficit.
“There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me because they want to give something back,” the president said. “If you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. ... If you’ve got a business you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, has pledged a vote on the Obama plan by Congress’ August recess, but whether he has the votes remain unclear. A handful of Democrats – include several facing a tough re-election bid – don’t want to vote on a proposal that would result in a tax increase for some Americans.
Senate Democrats and Republicans wrangled Wednesday over the tax cut extensions, which have emerged as a major campaign issue as GOP candidate Mitt Romney attempts to upend Obama’s re-election bid.
Leaders of the GOP-controlled House want to extended the cuts for all American and will almost assuredly reject any plan capping them at the $250,000 income level, or $200,000 for individuals.
The cuts will expire in January.
The president continued Friday outside a fire station in the southwest Virginia city, saying, “If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. ... Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. … Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet,” reported first by The Washington Times.
Obama’s comment Friday during a campaign stop in Roanoke, Va., came just days after he urged Congress to extend tax cuts enacted during the Bush administration only to families earning less than $250,000 annually – part of his argument that the wealthy have an obligation to pay more to trim the deficit.
“There are a lot of wealthy, successful Americans who agree with me because they want to give something back,” the president said. “If you’ve been successful, you didn’t get there on your own. ... If you’ve got a business you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, has pledged a vote on the Obama plan by Congress’ August recess, but whether he has the votes remain unclear. A handful of Democrats – include several facing a tough re-election bid – don’t want to vote on a proposal that would result in a tax increase for some Americans.
Senate Democrats and Republicans wrangled Wednesday over the tax cut extensions, which have emerged as a major campaign issue as GOP candidate Mitt Romney attempts to upend Obama’s re-election bid.
Leaders of the GOP-controlled House want to extended the cuts for all American and will almost assuredly reject any plan capping them at the $250,000 income level, or $200,000 for individuals.
The cuts will expire in January.
The president continued Friday outside a fire station in the southwest Virginia city, saying, “If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. ... Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. … Government research created the Internet so that all the companies could make money off the Internet,” reported first by The Washington Times.
Comments