"The president’s redistributive effort to limit charitable tax deductions will hurt the poor—and everyone else.
The latest fiscal cliff has led the President and Congress on a manic quest to find new sources of revenue for a federal government that is congenitally unable to live within its means. That extra revenue can come in only two ways. We can raise tax rates, clamp down on tax deductions, or do some combination of the two.
In approaching this issue, the Obama administration has had all of the wrong instincts. It has been adamant in its insistence that all changes on the revenue side increase the level of progressivity. The Tax Reform Act of 2012 thus moves the top marginal rates up to 39.6 percent, without accounting for the Medicare override of 3.8 percent that hits all taxpayers in the maximum tax bracket, making their combined rate 43.5 percent, which is above the Clinton norms. Since taxable deductions are not allowed against the Medicare excise tax, the administration has already taken a first step toward its goal of limiting the deductions that are available to high-income taxpayers."
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