關注社會:奧巴馬增稅計劃瞄準富人
President Barack Obama has sharpened divisions with his Republican rivals ahead of this year's presidential election, with a 2013 budget proposal that more than doubles tax on the dividend incomes of high earners.
美國總統巴拉克•奧巴馬(Barack Obama)與其共和黨對手之間的分歧進一步加大，在今年的總統大選開始之前，他在2013年預算預案中提出，將對高收入者的股息所得徵收比以往高出逾一倍的稅率。
Mr Obama's budget lifts the levy on dividends from 15 per cent to the top marginal rate, which will stand at 39.6 per cent in 2013 if all of the tax cuts introduced by George W. Bush expire as scheduled.
如果喬治•布什(George W. Bush)時期推出的所有減稅政策按計劃到期，按照奧巴馬提出的預算，2013年時，股息收入所需繳納的稅率，將從15%升至最高邊際稅率39.6%。
The plan to tax dividends as ordinary income applies to individuals earning more than $200,000 or married couples who take in over $250,000. The budget proposes lifting the capital gains tax rate from 15 to 20 per cent. The proposal amplifies the White House's intensifying policy pitch that the wealthy should pay higher taxes to reduce the ballooning federal deficit, an approach Republicans have called "class warfare".
該計劃將對股息收入和普通收入實行同等的徵稅標準，適用於收入超過20萬美元的個人，或是總收入超過25萬美元的夫婦。上述預算提出將資本所得稅率由15%增至20%。這一預案凸顯出白宮日益強化的政策觀點：富人應繳納更高的稅率，以減少不斷膨脹的聯邦赤字——共和黨人將這種方式稱爲“階級鬥爭”。
With little chance of passing Congress, Mr Obama's budget proposal is a political document that sets forth the fiscal platform he will campaign on ahead of the November election.
雖然奧巴馬的預算預案在國會獲得通過的機率很小，但它卻是一份政治宣言，表明在11月份的美國大選前，奧巴馬將在競選過程中施行怎樣的財政綱領。
The budget also includes extra spending on education and infrastructure, which the president plans to pay for with additional higher taxes on the energy industry, mutual funds and also estates. It contains no new plans to tackle long-term drivers of the US deficit, most notably Medicare, which covers medical treatment for the elderly, and Medicaid for the poor.
上述預算還包括將加大對教育和基礎設施的投入，奧巴馬計劃通過對能源行業、共同基金以及房地產行業增稅，來支付這部分開支。針對引發美國赤字的長期性因素（最爲顯而易見的是老年醫保(Medicare)和醫療補助(Medicaid)項目，二者分別爲老年人口和貧困人羣提供醫療服務），預算沒有提出新的計劃。
The budget reiterates the White House's underlying principle for personal tax reform, the so-called "Buffett rule", after investor Warren Buffett, that anyone with annual income of $1m or more should pay a minimum 30 per cent in tax.
該預算重申了白宮在個人納稅改革（即所謂的“巴菲特規則”，以投資家沃倫•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)命名）問題上的根本原則：年收入達到或超過100萬美元的個人，應至少繳納30%的稅率。
譯者:薛磊
