INTERVIEW – GROVER NORQUIST – President, Americans for Tax Reform
State of the Union Preview:
>> Let's Pay for 'Free' Community College by Taxing College Savings! Obama's new tax proposals hit more than the rich.
>> Obama to seek tax raises on wealthy
Let's Pay for 'Free' Community College by Taxing College Savings! Obama's new tax proposals hit more than the rich. (Reason magazine) — President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address tomorrow proposes $320 billion in taxes over the next 10 years. Pretty much every new story is presenting it as "increasing taxes on the wealthiest" to pay for programs to help the middle class. That's bad enough. It's not like he's proposing increasing taxes to pay for fundamental government operations. It's just a wealth transfer to cover the "costs" of offering up tax credits to famillies with two working parents (screw you, stay-at-home moms and dads!). But beyond that, Americans for Tax Reform looked at the package and point out several ways these tax increases are going to potentially come back and hurt others besides the richest among us. Obama previewed his plan for "free" community college for students seeking associate's degrees a couple of weeks ago. The administration has put a price tag of $60 billion over 10 years for it (which means it's likely to be much higher). Part of how Obama plans to pay for it is to tax the special saving funds, called 529 plans, that people can use to gather money to pay for their children (or themselves) to go to college.