Robin Carnahan, Missouri Senate Candidate, Wants Bush Tax Cuts Extended For Wealthy

Breaking from the president and the majority of her party, Robin Carnahan, the Democratic Senate candidate in Missouri, announced on Thursday that she supports extending the Bush tax cuts for all recipients, including the wealthy.

In an appearance before the state fair in Sedalia, Missouri, Carnahan stressed that "now [was] not the time to raise taxes" for members of any income class. Tony Messenger, a reporter with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was at the fair and tweeted the news. A Carnahan campaign aide confirmed the Secretary of State's position to the Huffington Post.

In announcing her support for a full extension of the Bush tax cuts -- which are set to expire this year -- Carnahan creates conspicuous distance between herself and many of the national Democrats she's hoping to join. President Obama, for one, has pushed for an extension of the cuts for those making below $200,000. Individuals earning more than that or families in an income bracket above $250,000 would see their tax rates revert to previous levels under the president's plan. With some exceptions, this position has been echoed by Democrats on the Hill, who argue that the budget would take a major blow if the tax cuts for the wealthy are extended.

On the campaign trail, it appears, the argument is a bit harder to make. Carnahan isn't the first Democratic Senate candidate to call for an extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway has said that he favors keeping the current rates for "five, eight, maybe ten" additional years. Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D-Ind.), who is running for Sen. Evan Bayh's soon to be vacated seat, also has said he would support extending the entire package of Bush tax cuts.

Comments

[gnomic]

09:17 PM on 08/23/2010

Sorry Robin, you just lost me. Both in terms of logic and support.

[1BurningMan]

10:31 PM on 08/20/2010

The greatest mistake i'm so recently noticing from democratic candidates, as well as democratic officials already in office, is that they presume from some false assumption that pandering to the right wing will garner their votes, or at least make them appear centrist enough to gain right leaning independents. Here's a hint, IT WON'T. They were never going to vote for you, they will never vote for you because of that big D next to your name. Carnahan is already throwing herself at the mercy of populism in the state by playing this political game. She's not going on enough offense and simply exposing the truth for what these Bush era tax breaks mean. The facts are as undeniable as the pitched line to the Obama administration from republicans about the economy and the unemployment rate: WHERE ARE THE JOBS? Well, if these tax breaks for the wealthiest 2% were supposed to create jobs and letting them expire is a "job killer", then just turn around and ask Roy Blunt: WHERE ARE THE JOBS? Poor show, Robin, you'll have to get tougher than this.

[richinkle]

03:41 PM on 08/20/2010

Legacy politicians are, on average, only about 2/3 as bright and principled as the parents whose names they are exploiting for political advantage.

Robin Carnahan, Evan Bayh, Rand Paul, George W. Bush, and George H. W. Bush are all products of a affirmative action system for the privileged, which, unlike the old liberal race-based affirmative active system, actually makes NO provision for merit, intelligence or accomplishments.

[richinkle]

03:31 PM on 08/20/2010

Democrats who want to extend the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy risk alienating the main group of voters who would elect them. The concept is so bereft of reason and intelligence. It is a craven position, and they will likely lose for it.

If you want Democratic, and other voters with reason, you have to take positions that make sense. Low taxes on the wealthy actually foster boom-bust market cycles that end up undermining our economy, decimating the middle class and hastening our decline to 3rd world status.

[Celine Don]

01:06 PM on 08/20/2010

Well now we know who in the Democratic Party is the enemy of the majority in this country.
She just lost her seat!

[baseline]

09:14 AM on 08/20/2010

Are 98% of Americans going to continue to give a tax break to the 2% who are super-rich ?

[USPAC]

03:50 AM on 08/20/2010

SAVE THE RICH!

[Steve249]

09:24 PM on 08/19/2010

If you think Carnahan is bad, check out the Democrat running for senate in Kentucky, Jack Conway. He not only wants to extend the Bush tax cuts, he is VERY adamant about it.

"Extend those tax cuts! This is not any time to be raising taxes in a recession, like we're in right now. Extend them! Extend them!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZbWgoTloH8#t=0m43s


And this isn't the first time he has agreed with a Bush policy:

"I support [Bush] on Iraq"
"I support [Bush] in the area of foreign affairs"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-13-7Aj2ks


Almost makes you wonder if Rand Paul would be better in the senate as an outsider Republican to stick a finger in the eye of the neocon Republican establishment. Electing Conway to the senate brings nothing good to the table, I'm sick of Dems like him.

[GENE DEVAUX]

11:38 AM on 08/20/2010

We do not need more Senators like Joe Lieberman. An old time radio commentator, Jim Hightower, wrote a book that fits this situation. The title read, "There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos" The right-wing extremists love them because they can be manipulated.

[FormerReaganite]

09:23 PM on 08/19/2010

Cutting taxes on the wealthy to improve the economy is like me going to my boss and requesting a PAY CUT so that I can afford to buy a new car.

Illogical!

[Bub]

09:22 PM on 08/19/2010

Those tax cuts drove our country's economy into a ditch.

If they are extended, they will destory the country. Simple as that.

Read Nobel Laureate and Economic Historian, Douglas C. North's "Structure and Change in Economic History" (an easy read) pages 100-115 - you'll see this is the exact same thing that destroyed the Roman Empire.

North is a resident of Missouri, by the way.

Clinton, and his tax code, created 22 million jobs. Bush and his tax code created ZERO. None.

End of story.

I can't think of anything more stupid and destructive than the position Carnahan has taken. I wonder who wrote the check that has called the tune.

[richinkle]

03:33 PM on 08/20/2010

Thank you for your excellent post.

[GloriaY]

09:19 PM on 08/19/2010

Prescriptiom for defeat. She must not have heard experts such as Dr Greenspan, Warren Buffett, and a number of wealthy persons. She chooses to be stone deaf.

[rcpmac]

10:07 PM on 08/19/2010

Not in Kentucky

[FormerReaganite]

09:15 PM on 08/19/2010

George Bush Sr *cut* taxes on the wealthy. Result: recession (1990-1992)
Bill Clinton *raised* taxes on the wealthy. Result: prosperity (1992-2000)
George W Bush *cut* taxes on the wealthy. Result: recession (1998-????)

The logical conclusion: cutting taxes on the wealthy causes recessions. If we want to end the present recession, raise taxes on the wealthy. Prosperity will certainly follow.

[FormerReaganite]

09:17 PM on 08/19/2010

OOps I meant
George W Bush *cut* taxes on the wealthy. Result: recession (2008-????)

[copestir]

09:12 PM on 08/19/2010

I really don't care about anyone's opinions antmore. How can you create JOBS, and JOBS. I really don't care if youare the profession left or right. Amreicians need to get back to work. PERIOD!

[FormerReaganite]

09:18 PM on 08/19/2010

Now is the time to repair America's decaying infrastructure. This keeps people working.

[nomobull]

09:06 PM on 08/19/2010

NO

[sueinmn]

09:02 PM on 08/19/2010

Blue Dog, must go.