More Union Busting

President Obama is planning to call for increasing taxes on the wealthy and also on major financial institutions when he delivers his State of the Union address to a hostile Republican Congress tonight. His proposals would generate $320 billion in new revenues over ten years that would provide middle-class tax relief and pay for programs such as subsidies to help people go to two-year community colleges for free, at a cost of $60 billion over ten years. The capital gains tax would be raised form a rate of 23.8 percent to 28 percent, and tax rates would also go up on inherited assets.

Here's some other news: The Republicans won the congressional midterms big-time in November, and there's less-than-zero chance of any of this passing.  

You'd be wrong to think that Obama seriously thinks he can get any of this passed, but not as wrong as Obama is if he thinks these proposals can start a debate between the White House and Republican congressional leaders (Democratic congressional leaders don't factor into this equation because they hardly qualify as leaders) that can actually lead to getting something done.  Obama is making these proposals to draw a clear distinction between Democrats and Republicans and try to make the GOP explain why they would be against helping the average American and for further enriching the wealthy.  How, he must wonder, can they defend their position?

Quite easily, in fact.  Republicans have been pushing supply-side economics since the early eighties, and they've ridiculed every serious Democratic domestic policy proposal of the past thirty-five years - both of them - as more taxes, more government, and more spending, after reminding everyone how bad all three are.  Look for new Iowa senator and noted pig farmer Joni Ernst - chosen to give the Republican rebuttal to Obama's speech (I told you she was about to become the most dangerous woman on Capitol Hill)  - to drive those points home in her remarks.    

And since Obama's own remarks likely won't include a mention of high-speed rail - lately he's been pretending he never proposed such a thing - I've already decided not to tune in.  I've also decided not to care. :-p