Forbes Magazine: White House Could Thwart Recovery

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 9:38 AM

By: Dan Weil

Forbes magazine reported that policies of the White House and Congress could doom the chances for economic recovery.

Here are the moves that writers Janet Novack and Brian Wingfield find dangerous.

Higher taxes for:

The rich. "Democrats plan to allow most Bush-era tax cuts for couples earning more than $250,000 to expire at the end of 2010."

The insured. An expansion of health insurance may be financed by a tax on the value of employer-paid health insurance worth more than a certain amount.

Multinational companies. "The Administration has proposed raising $210 billion over 10 years."

Oil companies. "Obama has proposed raising $31.5 billion more from the oil and natural gas industry over 10 years."

The writers say the administration and Congress are hell bent on creating a hostile environment for:

Greenhouse gases. "House Democrats have drafted a … bill that would establish a permit system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 17 percent below 2005."

Modified power plants. The government "announced an assault on utilities that modify old power plants without upgrading their pollution controls to the latest standards."

Gas-guzzling cars. Fuel efficiency requirements "will add another $600 to the price of a vehicle."

Employers will suffer from the following:

Pay or play. "Employers could be presented with a mandate requiring they either contribute to their workers insurance or pay a fee to the government."

A Democratic labor board. Obama is trying to stack it with pro-union personnel.

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