$1.6 Trillion was put on the table and the Republicans nixed it. They probably did it for the wrong reasons. Because truth is, that amount should be raised. $1.6 Trillion in new revenue is too low!

First when one sees a figure like this, one must understand that this figure is spread over 10 years. (The nice part of choosing ten years as the time frame, is that it makes the math easier for most American’s to understand.) Therefore we are talking about acquiring a measly $160 billion per year. That may seem like a lot to someone who won that much in a powerball drawing, but, in the global economy, that is a drop in the bucket.

Here are some facts to put this much into perspective…

$160 Billion is the amount Federal Revenue dropped when the Bush Tax Cuts were inaugurated. It is also the amount of these , revenue increases from 2004-2005, 2005-2006. 2006-2007…… So such gains obviously don’t dent the economy.

2003-2004; this amount was was the sum of three supplemental bills for the Iraq War that passed Congress. Republicans had no problem borrowing $160 billion then.

2005-2006: same thing, supplemental bills passed to fund Iraq War. $204 Billion, borrowed.

2007 Supplemental bills passed totaling $170 Billion.

2008 Proposed budget for Mideast wars $190 billion.

2009 Proposed budget for Mideast wars: $130 billion.

2011 Proposed budget for Mideast wars: $160 billion.

One can see that we’ve indulged ourselves of thie $160 billion for ten years… All we are doing is simply taking the same amount of time to quietly pay it back.

It won’t hurt anybody.

How does this stack up to our GDP? Current estimates rank our GDP at number one with $17 Trillion dollars… So how much does $160 billion dollars suck out as a percentage of our GDP? That is the surest method to determine if any economic effect derives from those top earners paying more.

$160 Billion divided by $17 trillion … equals a percentage of…. 9 tenths of a single percent… That would be the equivalent of a sealing and coating charge of $282 added to your $30,000 brand new vehicle you bought… Does that little bit, cause YOU NOT TO switch out your clunker for a fine set of wheels? Don’t expect the wealthy to feel the hit either.

Remember again, we are not taking this from poor people. We are taking it only from those who have so much money, they loose hair follicles trying to figure where to invest it… Furthermore, each of those billionaires, will most likely make double that amount in new profits as the economy takes off and profits soar. Simply put, arguing over this paltry amount is silly. The only reason it is getting done at all, is because they (Republicans) think you are too dumb to know better…..

That is the only reason it is in the news today at all. Let’s try to make that number bigger. We know that the effect of siphoning 160 Billion a year is minimal, let us see how that affects only the wealthy?

The top 1% owns 40% of the wealth… 1/40. Total net worth of America was $55 Trillion in 2009. That was a sharp reduction from the all time high in 2007 at $66 Trillion. But at $55 trillion the amount of that being owned by the top 1% as we saw at the rate of 40%….. is…. $21.6 trillion. (the 99% own the other $34 Trillion)… So as a yearly assessment off their wealth, this $160 billion is one third of one penny on the dollar… In layman’s terms that mean one penny on every $3 dollars earned…. That is not going to kill anybody….

Granted, when you own $21 Trillion, writing a check for an extra $160 billion dollars is a shock, but to pay only a penny increase on every three dollars earned? Wow, if only the rest of us could be so lucky….

This is why we should not wait. We can make greater improvement and set our financial house in order by tripling that amount, quadrupling that amount, quintupling that amount…. or even times it by a power of ten….

When someone has a surplus of money they can never spend, 3 cents on every additional dollar owned is nothing. Especially, when the lower 80% is being asked to pay ten cents more of every dollar to their pensions, their insurance funds, and bank fees, just so those at the top can make even MORE money…..

Our nation’s economy can even afford a $10 trillion tax hike, (3 cents on the dollar)and do so with all the burden coming from only the top 1% of wealth holders… This tiny amount is nothing to them…

For Republicans to gnash their teeth over our President’s paltry $1.6 Trillion revenue jump, is demeaning, cowardly, and actually makes them look like silly, pompous old men, when a $10 Trillion tax increase is so easily doable.

And if anyone were to ever believe them, and back down from the $160 billion a year, their simply saying such,… may cause irreparable damage to our country…