The SOTU: There's a certain sameness to things that don't seem to change

Quite often in politics the old saying is confirmed that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

• President Barack Obama speech joint session of Congress, Feb. 24, 2009:

“…we will restore a sense of fairness and balance to our tax code by finally ending the tax breaks for corporations that ship our jobs overseas.”

• President Barack Obama State of the Union Address, Jan. 20, 2015

“Let's close loopholes so we stop rewarding companies that keep profits abroad, and reward those that invest in America.”

The two statements – and the distance between them – are signs of how in Washington things move or don’t move. Then again, sometimes not moving is the right move.

When, and how, to know which is which is the question.

Whether President Obama’s most recent State of the Union address is a political effort to try to box-in Republicans by promising new spending and taxes to which they won’t agree, or serious policy pronouncements he hopes will pass, his tax-related comments have a familiar ring.

In his State of the Union address, among measures mentioned by the president that would lead to more revenue for the federal government and additional costs for businesses, are:

• The above-mentioned and long-suffering loophole-closing idea, which is still alive six years into his presidency
• Increasing the capital gains tax to 28 percent for American couples making more than $500,000 annually
• Estates paying capital gains taxes on securities upon inheritance
• A new fee on American financial firms with assets of more than $50 billion to make substantial borrowing more expensive for these firms
• A mandate for employers to pay at least seven days annually of employee sick leave
• An employer-paid minimum wage increase
• An $500 for a second tax credit if both spouses are working
• Up to $,3000 in tax credits for children in day care up to age five

According to the president’s speech, some $320 billion would be realized over 10 years.

With respect to taxing upper-income Americans, nothing much has changed since the president took office in Jan. 2009. They were the targets of additional taxation then, they’re getting the attention now.

Some decry these ideas as government confiscation principally to make politicians look generous – with other people’s money. Others say they are necessary to build the middle class.

The chances of many of these proposals passing are non-existent, for two reasons:

1. The country is still borrowing more than a billion dollars a day to run government, with the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office predicting increased annual deficits approach $1 trillion in a few years.
2. The Republicans don’t want to give Obama a win at the same time they’ll be blamed for raising taxes.

Sometimes, the more things change, they really do change. And Washington does sometimes move, if glacially.

A glacier moves, and when it does it pushes – or crushes - whatever is in front of it. Listening to the SOTU undoubtedly some felt moved, others felt as if they’re going to be crushed.

It all depends on your position when the ice starts to shift.