At Obama's first online town hall meeting, he didn't field a lot of tough questions, but one small businessman from Arlington gave the president a close-up look at the kind of person who can be lumped in with the "richest" in the federal tax code.
Describing himself as a veteran and a small business owner who provides online educational content to schools, the questioner didn't look the part of the suspendered, pin-striped fat cats of the fevered dreams of liberals. He explained to Obama that he is one of the job creators on whom the president is counting to "create or save" all the jobs his stimulus promises.
"I'm still making money. I'm still hiring," he said. "And, I'm plowing all that money back into the company...All of that counts as income to me before I ever see a penny of it."
He then asked if there were changes that could be made to the tax code that would prevent people like him from being caught up in the "richest" brackets "before we ever see a dime," so they wouldn't be punished for building businesses and investing in the economy.
Obama's answer was telling, as he assured the man that he was committed to lowering the "tax burden on small businesses and start-ups," but "as they grow, their tax burden is gonna grow accordingly." Small businesses, of course, being virtuous and politically palatable until they create a product good enough to make them big, at which point they should be flogged with the populist whip and taken for all they're worth, despite the fact that doing so prevents them from creating more jobs. The jab at larger businesses was unnecessary to answer the question, but you could tell he wanted to reassure the audience that he wasn't veering into tax-cut-friendly territory.
He went on to tell the businessman about the cut in capital gains taxes for small businesses, but "you won't see an immediate benefit on that. It will kick in five years from now," Obama said. I'm sure his current and prospective employees are thrilled to know, during these hard times, that help is just five short years away.
I don't know this businessman's particular economic situation, but it sounded awfully like he was dealing with a more immediate problem- perhaps the expiration of the Bush tax cuts in 2010, which would allow the tax rates of the "richest" to rise. Swept up in the "richest" brackets, as President Bush often noted, are some small business owners whose business income counts toward their personal income bracket.
Obama's liberalism and populism repeatedly put him at odds with the very business owners, investors, and even Wall Street denizens he's relying on to deliver his promises. He needs Americans like this Arlington businessman to "create or save" three million jobs, and he needs hedge fund managers to invest to save the failing banks. Yet he attacks both, with policies and purple prose.
Good thing no one can measure whether he actually creates jobs, so he's in the clear.
Also of note at the White House's first online town hall:
The Stats: WhiteHouse.gov says it received more than 104,000 questions from more than 90,000 people, for which people cast more than 3 million votes.
The Buzz, Literally: The question most often voted to the top of the pile was about marijuana legalization.
In this moment of national economic crisis, the top four questions under the heading of "Financial security" concerned marijuana; on the budget, people voted up questions about marijuana to positions 1-4; marijuana was in the first and third positions under "jobs"; people boosted a plug for legalizing marijuana to number two under "health care reform." And questions about decriminalizing pot occupied spots 1 and two under "green jobs and engery."
It seems part of the popularity of marijuana questions was fueled by NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which was urging it's members to vote for questions supporting the legalization of cannabis.
Obama's against it, for the record.
The Cringe: I'm all for open government, but the sing-songy, unison introduction of "our question" by three sweatshirt-clad female Kent State students in a dorm room makes me think there should be some way of screening out groups of David Archuleta fans.
The Shoulda-Been-Bill-Clinton Soundbite: "I'm biased toward nurses. I just like nurses." Oh, yeah.
