Obama says 'midcourse corrections' to come at home

"Holi" at home, "Diwali" in India and putting himself in awkward position by accepting questions from Indian Students. Better he should leave politics to the Republicans and truely enjoy the traditions of Indian Culture with First Lady Michelle !

I wonder if "healthy materialism" includes the 37 ships in his party, 1,000+ friends on vacation with him, 1,000 security and the $200M a day cost.

=even Queen Elizabeth doesn't roll like that.

Badsey, give Obama a break. He deserves this taxpayer funded $200M a day vacation after all the hard campaigning he did to successfully thwart the "enemy", a/k/a those of us who voted against his party's out-of-control spending ...... Oh, wait!!!

RR

Obama: This is a trip you should never have made

The actual cost from reports I've been reading is $246 million a day....

I can see extending the tax cuts to most of the tax brackets. Why should we extend them to the super rich? Someone please answer that? It is certainly not for economic reasons. They will spend at the same lever regardless of their tax rate. I am for splitting the capital gains tax into a more progressive structure. Instead of 20% (2011) for almost everyone I would like to see 15% for the middle class incomes and 25% for the wealthiest, who are now paying some of the lowest tax rates. Currently the wealthy are paying 15% (on long term gains) and that number will increase to 20%, like I said in 2011. Most people who are not rich rely on money that is income taxed by the IRS at a higher rate than the capital gains taxes that the rich primarily pay. There should be an upward break, in capital gain taxes, somewhere past $250k. It may only be just a couple of percent and then another few percent at 1/2 a mil and another few percent at 1 mil.

But the Republicans want to have the rich and super rich pay only 15% taxes on the vast majority of their new money coming in every year. I must admit that I am not big on a 39.6% tax rate for the top income tax rate, even for the CEO making 3 - 10 mil a year. That is the rate come 2011 for those $373,651 and above. I also think that threshold should be a lot higher.

Well this is one thing they will be arguing when they want to restore some or all of the tax cuts. Again the Republicans will be arguing to make the vast majority of the super rich's taxes a mere 15%. Otherwise they will rise to 20%. 20% for a billionaire is too high for the Republicans they want it to be 15%.

Expect this trip to cost $10-20M a day. The $200M figure is from an Indian newspaper and is floating around.

-even with the American dollar closely following the Zimbabwe dollar -$200M a day is hard to spend. Michael Jackson, Elton John, Yoko Ono and Cher combined would have a hard time spending $200M a day.

Badsey: I wonder if "healthy materialism" includes the 37 ships in his party, 1,000+ friends on vacation with him, 1,000 security and the $200M a day cost.

Obama is on vacation with the pretense of working so he can write it off on the tax payers tab.

Why can't Obama just go on this tour with just him and his wife with the Secret Service? Will Obama exercised his Presidency right to not disclosed how much the 10 days tour will cost the tax payer like he did with his wife's trip to Italy with the exception that she supposedly paid it out of her own pocket with the exception of the Secret Service about 200? of them.

Obama spends the tax payer's money like he doesn't have to be accountable for it. Like President Obama Surprised by Political Cost of Health Care Law title from another news online site goes to show money is not an issue for him when he is getting a free ride on the back of tax payers.

It is heartening to see that Obama realizes he is a lame duck. Down to earth comes Icarus.

-even with the American dollar closely following the Zimbabwe dollar -$200M a day is hard to spend. Michael Jackson, Elton John, Yoko Ono and Cher combined would have a hard time spending $200M a day. says Badsey.

Hey Badsey, neither Michael Jackson, Elton John, Yoko Ono or Cher are government employees - 200M a day is a drop in the bucket when its not your own money you are spending!

@goodDonkey

I can see extending the tax cuts to most of the tax brackets. Why should we extend them to the super rich?

That's Commie talk. The Tea Party folk are on to you!

I can see extending the tax cuts to most of the tax brackets. Why should we extend them to the super rich?

If you are going to rob the productive of their money how about a little turnabout? Since the bottom 40 percent of wage earners in America pay NO taxes maybe we should take from them their vote.

If you are going to rob the productive of their money how about a little turnabout?

That comment is so 19th century. Nobody is rich in the 21st century because they are productive, they are rich because they have access to an unlimited increase in the money supply in the post gold standard world. They MAY have the access because they are productive (ie. Steve Jobs), but more likely they are rich because they are in a business with first crack at the new money (ie. bankers).

Money today is not a "thing", it is just debt. One man's money is by definition another man's debt, and if some people hoard all the money then the debts won't be repaid and the system falls apart. Republicans (most people actually) have the irrational idea that debts and deficits are bad, but being rich and keeping all your money is good. Impossible, just two sides of the same coin. No debts, no rich people. To keep being rich, rich people have to circulate the money so debts can be paid and new debts issued.

Nothing class-based about it, it is just the reality of the new and insane monetary system. In fact the real war is not between the rich and the poor, it is between the productively rich and the non-productive rich who are willing to bring down the economy in order to keep their "money". By fighting that reality, the Republicans, and the Democrats if they compromise, are just going make the problems worse.

In front of those students in Mumbai Obama also criticized the elections in Myanmar as being not free and unfair. It seems Japan is NOT a spokesman for the US of A, as someone else said on another thread. Chuckle.

TimRussert

If you are going to rob the productive of their money

Yeah like a 20% tax is robbing the super rich. Most people pay a much higher rate. Factor in social security and it is no contest on who is paying the highest tax rate.

TimRussert, MisterCreosote or RomeoRamenII or for that matter what ever else he/she decide to call their self thinks the 100 millionaires and billionaires should only be paying 15% in taxes.

The elites generally don't pay taxes since the tax laws are made for/by them. 90% of the taxes are paid by the slaves and 10% is corporate now. Google is a good example (1-3% tax rate)

When Obama comes back from his "trip" you will most likely get a speech on how the slaves need to pay more taxes and save more.

Is Obama going to try Indian butter chicken curry while he's there? I recommend it.

I impeachment could cut the two year wait we must go through to dump this leach

@TheMarion

I impeachment could cut the two year wait we must go through to dump this leach

1) Impeachment on what grounds? Apart from the fact that you don't like him?

2) Learn to spell "leech".

" impeachment could cut the two year wait we must go through to dump this leach"

On what grounds?

This trip is not costing $200 million a day. That's a conservative lie.

As is the conservative lie that he is being protected by 34 ships.

But that's conservatives for you. They don't normally get along too well with the truth.

Taka

This trip is not costing $200 million a day. That's a conservative lie.

What started out as a lie has turned into proof of complete idiocy by everyone who lacks the sense to discern how off from reality that number is -- and keeps repeating it here as though it were fact.

The continued spending, profligate and insulting though it is, pales in comparison to what Obama has squandered in political capital. Most Americans now recognize there is a link between those two.

Yabits The $200 million a day conservative lie is actually more believable than the 34 ship conservative lie. 34 ships would be the equivalent of about 5 strike groups. How one could believe a whopper of that proportion is beyond me.

Then again...I have a brain and choose to actively use it.

Taka

Obama is irrelevant.

"Obama is irrelevant"

Gee, you wouldn't think so from the shriektime he's getting from the JT radicals, tim.